The world of professional golf was rocked by Jon Rahm’s decision to join LIV Golf at the beginning of the year. Many people saw it as a catastrophic blow to the PGA Tour.
The Spaniard was, after all, one of the top sports stars and appeared to have a very lucrative career ahead of him. Up until then, he was without a doubt the most gifted player to defect to the Saudi-backed tour.
Of course, the European Ryder Cup squad suffered a terrible defeat as well. Rahm was a key component of the team that defeated the United States in Rome last year, and with the playing field being smaller on this side of the Atlantic, his absence would have been significant in subsequent iterations of the competition.
But it appears like there’s still a good chance we’ll see him at Bethpage the following year.
A loophole might allow LIV Golf stars to compete against Europe in the 2025 Ryder Cup
The likes of Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Ian Poulter were not available for European selection for the last Ryder Cup due to their moves to LIV Golf, while Henrik Stenson was also stripped of the captaincy after making the switch.
As a result, each of those golfers resigned from the DP World Tour, which is a requirement for players to have in order to compete on behalf of Europe. Because the PGA Tour does not follow a comparable regulation, Brooks Koepka was able to compete for the United States.
Two members of the winning squad from the previous year, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, were expected to face the same punishment as Garcia and company in 2025.
It appears, though, that this may not be the case.
Because Westwood, Garcia, and Poulter resigned from the DP World Tour to avoid paying fines for participating in LIV, they were ineligible. Suspensions were also given to them. Rahm and Hatton may still play at Bethpage because they haven’t revoked their membership.
Guy Kinnings, the new manager of the DP World Tour, has now succinctly explained why they will be eligible for selection provided they pay any applicable fines and participate in four tour events year. This may potentially be organized around player bans.
I believe there has been a small misperception if you look at the eligibility requirements for 2023,” he told reporters.
In actuality, there is no reason why players who have taken LIV membership could not qualify or be available for selection if they are European, a member of the DP World Tour, and follow the rules (if you don’t get a release, there are sanctions and you take those penalties).
All suspensions are cumulative, and they must be served. And those who have done extensive analysis on this have concluded that, should they follow the correct procedures, they should be able to compete in the Ryder Cup.
Based on that, we won’t be making any changes. All members must abide by the regulations as they are.
We are not in a position to amend regulations that we have to defend in court.
In other words, if Luke Donald chooses them, we might witness Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton represent Europe in the Ryder Cup in 2025 after all.
No matter what tour the top players play on, golf fans would undoubtedly want to watch them compete in the event.
