LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - Spaniard Jon Rahm will be eligible for Europe in next year's Ryder Cup after reaching an agreement to pay fines and play events on the DP World Tour this season, a move that also triggered speculation about his future with LIV Golf beyond 2026.
Twice major champion Rahm competed in last year's Ryder Cup that Europe won while he appealed fines for playing in conflicting events without a release.
Yet his participation in the biennial team competition next year in Ireland was in jeopardy after he turned down a deal from the European tour that would have allowed him to compete in LIV Golf events without penalty provided he paid his outstanding fines.
"The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season," a DP World Tour spokesperson said.
"This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the Majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season."
Former world number one Rahm had previously accused the DP World Tour in March of "extorting players" after refusing to agree to a deal allowing LIV Golf players to compete in tournaments on both tours.
The settlement required Rahm to pay outstanding fines of reportedly around 2.5 million pounds ($3.33 million) for playing LIV events without permission, withdraw all pending appeals and commit to playing stipulated DP World Tour tournaments.
Rahm said on Tuesday there was no longer a stand-off between himself and the DP World Tour.
"We were able to reach an agreement. There was some concessions on both sides. I offered some; they extended an olive branch. Obviously we've reached an agreement. That will not be a stress anymore," he told reporters ahead of the LIV Golf event in Washington D.C. this week.
"The Ryder Cup is still really, really far away, but I'm happy that hopefully I won't have to think about any worries or any predicaments come to Adare Manor then or hopefully ever.
"I want to support the DP World Tour. There's a lot of events I want to play."
Tyrrell Hatton, Laurie Canter, Thomas Detry, Tom McKibbin, Adrian Meronk, Victor Perez, David Puig and Elvis Smylie were all previously given dispensation to play on both tours after reaching individual agreements with the DP World Tour.
Rahm will now be eligible to earn Race to Dubai ranking points at next week's PGA Championship and at subsequent Race to Dubai counting events he participates in during the 2026 season.
The 2027 Ryder Cup will be held at Adare Manor from September 17-19.
With Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund recently deciding that investing in LIV beyond the 2026 season is "no longer consistent" with its investment strategy,Rahm did not want to speculate about his future with the breakaway circuit.
"As of right now, I have several years on my contract left," said Rahm, LIV Golf's two-time defending individual champion.
"And I'm pretty sure they did a pretty good job when they drafted that. So I don't see many ways out, and as of right now, I'm not really thinking about it since we still have a season to play and majors to compete for. So it's not something I want to think about just yet."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman in London and Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
