Australia’s Elvis Smylie is among eight LIV Golf players who have reached a deal with the DP World Tour allowing them to compete on both circuits. But the more significant name is the one missing from the list: Jon Rahm, whose absence throws his 2027 Ryder Cup eligibility into serious doubt.
Smylie and others had been permitted to play in DP World Tour events while appealing fines accumulated for defecting to the Saudi-backed circuit. Overnight, Australian time, the DP World Tour issued conditional releases to Smylie – along with Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez and David Puig – to play in future LIV Golf events that conflict with DP World Tour events under three stipulations: that they pay all outstanding fines, participate in a set number of DP World Tour events and withdraw all pending appeals.
The tour was explicit that the releases apply only for 2026 and do not set a precedent for future arrangements.
“The conditions these members have accepted will provide additional value to the DP World Tour and benefit to the entire membership,” the DP World Tour wrote in a statement. “Provided each member satisfies the conditions of their individual releases, no disciplinary action under the regulations will be taken against them for playing in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf in 2026 and they will retain their membership status.”
Rahm, meanwhile, declined to meet the tour’s conditions. Golf Digest has learned that the main sticking point is his refusal to pay his assessed penalty, which Rahm has said is in the $US3 million range (DP World Tour officials confirmed to Golf Digest that the total of fines for Rahm and Hatton was several million dollars). Rahm’s sum is significant, though seemingly a manageable one given his LIV contract is believed to exceed $US300 million. LIV Golf has also been covering fines for events prior to this year. According to Today’s Golfer, Rahm also baulked at the requirement to compete in additional DP World Tour events.
Rahm’s path forward now runs through an appeal of the DP World Tour regulations, probably later this year. That road is not promising; LIV players have yet to prevail in any litigation against the DP World Tour. Should Rahm lose, he would face suspension from the DP World Tour, which would include being prohibited from Ryder Cup consideration in 2027, for non-payment. It’s a scenario with recent precedent: Sergio Garcia found himself in a nearly identical bind in 2023, scrambling to pay his fine at the 11th hour just to preserve his eligibility.
Because for Jon it’s not about who pays — it’s about agreeing with the reason the fine exists in the first place.
He’s always said he won’t accept fines for events he never intended to play (like India or Kenya), even when he was a PGA Tour member.
— Gonzalo Fdez-Castaño (@gfcgolf) February 21, 2026
The stakes couldn’t be clearer to Rory McIlroy, who made a public plea to both Rahm and Hatton last month to take the deal.
“We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said in Dubai. “We also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There’s two guys that can prove it.”
McIlroy added that he felt the DP World Tour sanctions were reasonable.
“I think any… any members’ organisation like this has a right to uphold its rules and regulations,” he said. “And what the DP World Tour are doing is upholding their rules and regulations and we, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations, and the people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were. So, I don’t see what’s wrong with that, I guess, is my opinion.”
– Additional reporting by Evin Priest