Rory McIlroy teed off on Jon Rahm’s framing of the DP World Tour requirements to maintain membership and believes the Team Europe Ryder Cup train will continue chugging forward if the Spaniard chooses not to get aboard in 2028.
Rahm made clear earlier this week while preparing for LIV Hong Kong he’s still very much at odds with European golf decision-makers who refused to free him from contractual obligations. One of nine LIV Golf players in the predicament, Rahm was the only holdout not to accept the terms of the DP World Tour release, which reportedly includes a fine of $3 million and additional appearances at tour events.
“I don’t know what game they’re trying to play right now,” Rahm said. “But it just seems like in a way they’re using our impact in tournaments and fining us and trying to benefit both ways from what we have to offer. And it’s just in a way they’re extorting players like myself and young players that have nothing to do with the politics of the game.”
McIlroy has participated in multiple events in Europe after the PGA Tour season ends and shared a diametrically opposed viewpoint.
“Geez, in my opinion, it’s a really generous deal. Like it’s a much softer deal than what Brooks (Koepka) took to come back and play on the PGA Tour,” McIlroy said Wednesday from Bay Hill Golf Club in Florida, site of the Arnold Palmer invitational beginning Thursday. “Look, the European Tour can only do so much to accommodate these guys. So, you know, if you want to play on the Ryder Cup you have to be a member of the DP World Tour. You have to be a member of the DP World Tour, you have to abide by the rules and regulations. And the rules and regulations were, ‘OK, if you break the media rights agreement and you go and play in a conflicting event, you don’t get a release, you’re subject to fines.’ So the guys didn’t want to pay these fines, that’s fine.
“So then the European Tour said, ‘OK, let’s try to come up with some sort of solution where you don’t have to pay the fines, so that we can ease that burden on you, but still retain your membership.’ And I … look, there’s a reason eight of the nine guys took that deal, right? I think it’s a really good deal. Yeah, obviously Jon doesn’t think so, and he’s obviously well within his rights to think that way. But I just don’t see what more the European Tour can do to accommodate these guys to retain their membership.”
Rahm, 31, could be left off the Ryder Cup team if the rift remains unresolved.
“I don’t like what they’re doing currently with the contract they’re having us sign. I don’t like the conditions,” Rahm said. “They’re asking me to play a minimum of six events, and they dictate where two of those have to be, among other things that I don’t agree with.”
McIlroy doesn’t agree the DP World Tour getting a say in which events would qualify under terms of the contract release is a sticking point. He said it boils down to agreeing to two extra events.
“Which isn’t a heavy lift,” McIlroy continued. “I mean, to retain your membership is four events on the DP World Tour outside of the major championships. And that to me doesn’t seem — yes, okay, maybe, you know, maybe the European Tour gets to have a say in where those two events are, but I mean, I’m sure Jon doesn’t want to go to South Africa next week, but he’s going there (for LIV Golf).
“He signed a contract for LIV and he plays 14 events and the whole thing. Like I get all that. But the DP World Tour is well within its rights to protect itself as a members organization and as a business. And if you asked any DP World Tour member about the deal that they have cut with the LIV guys they would, I think they would all say that it was pretty generous. So, and again, there’s a reason that eight of the nine took it, because they probably think the same thing, and one guy thinks a little differently, and that’s a shame.”
McIlroy trumpeted the return of Luke Donald as Team Europe captain as a “huge advantage” for the team because of the continuity and chemistry.
“It’s wonderful to have Luke back. There’s not one player or one person behind the scenes that helps with Ryder Cup Europe that isn’t thrilled that Luke agreed to come back and do it again,” McIlroy said.
There is plenty of ground to cover before the Ryder Cup issues with Rahm must be resolved. But McIlroy anticipates Team Europe moving forward either way.
“The Ryder Cup is bigger than any one person. It’s bigger than all of us,” he said. “We come and go. Players are — we pass through the system. Like, it’s the platform that’s the big thing. I mean, I think we should all be grateful that we have a platform like the Ryder Cup that we can play on and that we can showcase our skills and be a part of something that’s obviously way bigger than ourselves. So at the end of the day it’s about the team and no one player is bigger than the team.”
