Miami (AFP) – Rory McIlroy said Wednesday it’s “a shame” Jon Rahm’s dispute with the DP World Tour has put his Ryder Cup future in doubt but said the match play tournament can survive without the Spaniard. “The Ryder Cup is bigger than any one person,” McIlroy said in Orlando as he prepared for the US PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Rahm has rejected the DP World Tour’s deal to settle his fines for playing on the breakaway LIV Golf tour. The European-based circuit announced in February that eight LIV players had signed the agreement, which included a commitment to play more DP World Tour events, in return for a release to play LIV Golf in 2026 and their fines being paid. Rahm said at the LIV Golf tournament in Hong Kong this month that the DP World Tour was “extorting players” and said he would play four DP World Tour events, in line with current membership rules, but not six.
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McIlroy said he thought the conditions offered by the DP World Tour were “really generous,” saying the terms were “much softer” than those imposed on five-time major winner Brooks Koepka to return from LIV to the US PGA Tour. Koepka had to pay $5 million to charity and is ineligible for PGA Tour equity shares for five years. He also loses out on FedEx Cup bonus money this year and he can’t play in elite signature events unless he qualifies.
“Look, there’s a reason eight of the nine guys took that deal,” he said of the players who came to terms with the DP World Tour. “He signed a contract for LIV and he plays 14 events and the whole thing,” McIlroy said. “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, I think they would all say that it was pretty generous. 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 said the European Tour “can only do so much” to accommodate the golfers that jumped to LIV. “If you want to play on the Ryder Cup you have to be a member of the DP World Tour … you have to abide by the rules and regulations.” Rahm has been on every European Ryder Cup team since his debut in 2018, but McIlroy said the loss of one player wouldn’t dim the luster of the USA vs. Europe showpiece. “It’s bigger than all of us,” he said. “It’s the platform that’s the big thing. 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.”
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