Jon Rahm open to accepting Brooks Koepka-like penalties in order to return to PGA Tour after LIV Golf exit
Jon Rahm spoke to the media for the first time since announcing his exit from LIV Golf last month, and while he spoke vaguely about why he left the breakaway circuit, he also sent a clear message to the PGA Tour about his future.
The two-time major champion is teeing it up in this week's Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, the penultimate event on the DP World Tour calendar. While it marks his first start since officially leaving LIV Golf, the talk in the media center wasn't about the golf to be played this week, per se, but instead about both his past and future.
With LIV Golf losing its Saudi funding and later filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, the future of the circuit still remains entirely unknown. As Rahm alluded to, those uncertainties involving "LIV 2.0" were too overwhelming to ignore.
"Too many unknowns at the time and there are still quite a few," Rahm said in Abu Dhabi. "It seemed like it was going away from team golf and some of the things that made LIV, LIV. It just became more of a regular tour. It wasn't really ever much of a consideration, to be honest."
Rahm's claim that the potential removal of the team golf aspect – and that LIV turning into a "regular tour" – impacted his decision to leave feels wildly disingenuous. On the flip side, bashing the circuit that paid you hundreds of millions of dollars and happens to be in bankruptcy proceedings would be a bit harsh.
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Rahm, like the majority of his counterparts who have left LIV Golf, plans to play on the DP World Tour in 2027 and in all four major championships. It's no secret that the Spaniard would like to return to the PGA Tour sooner rather than later.
At this moment in time, the Tour is not offering an immediate, penalty-free pathway back for players to return, but that doesn't mean Rahm doesn't have an idea in mind.
At the start of 2026, Brooks Koepka left LIV Golf and returned to the Tour under a then-offered Returning Member Program. The five-time major winner had to agree to forfeit any player equity shares for the next five years, was not eligible for the $100 million FedEx Cup bonus program in 2026, and agreed to make a $5 million donation to charity.
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Rahm, who earned more than $100 million on the course alone in four years with LIV, wouldn't mind being offered a similar deal.
"Most likely, yeah. Why not? Yeah, but it's a big if," Rahm said, when asked if he would accept a Koepka-like deal. "I seriously doubt I get offered the same deal that Brooks did. But yeah, if I got offered exactly the same penalties as him, I probably would do it."
Rahm was eligible to return via the previously offered Returning Members Program that Koepka jumped on. The Tour offering the exact same pathway back a second time for Rahm is hard to imagine.
Rahm could be left with only one option for a return to the PGA Tour, which would include a one-year suspension before becoming eligible again. Former Masters champion Patrick Reed took the one-year suspension route earlier this year.