Jon Rahm‘s LIV Golf defection might make the player pay a heavy price, as per the Ryder Cup chief. Rahm joined the Saudi-funded league last year and there had been controversies regarding whether the Spaniard would be included in the 2025 Ryder Cup squad or not. Even Rory McIlroy went ahead and urged the authorities of the international event to revisit their rules and include Rahm. But, as per the statements of the Ryder Cup chief, those chances seem bleak.
Under the current rules of the biennial event, Rahm’s every LIV Golf appearance will cost him a fine and tournament suspension. Moreover, he’ll lose his DP World Tour membership card if he doesn’t play in at least four events on the European circuit. Thus, to include Rahm, many rules need to be revamped before the Bethpage tournament. But this will be challenging for Paul McGinley, who’s on the Ryder Cup advisory board, and showed uncertainty over including some of the European Ryder Cup players.
Ryder Cup Authorities Unsure About Including LIV Golfers In The European Team
McGinley stated blatantly in an interview with The Telegraph that under the current circumstances, LIV golfers won’t be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup and only changing certain rules would allow their participation, which is a matter of difficulty at the moment.
“So the rules will have to be changed if they are to be played. But there are a lot of hurdles to jump to get to the place where they’re going to be eligible.”
He continued and asked whether the Ryder Cup brand would be affected by excluding some of top LIV golfers.
“There’s a very, very strong sentiment among the players who have stayed that they’re the reason the game is divided and the product diluted. A diluted product lessens their value. So there’s an argument on both sides. And then there’s the Ryder Cup brand. Is that going to be affected if some top players are ineligible to play?”
McGinley finally added that the Ryder Cup should stay in the top echelon and by including players from both tours, a balance should be maintained. Finally, the top players should be present in the match. For Rahm, this news is certainly heartbreaking because he helped the European squad in Rome and hopes to do the same next year. Thus, it is to see whether Rory McIlroy‘s yearnings to include his friend are heard or not. As of now, the Spaniard is excluded from the binennial tournament. But if a deal is reached between the PGAT and the PIF, then exceptions might let previous Ryder Cup patriots like Garcia, Rahm and Poulter be part of their squads at Bethpage again.
