It was three years ago when Jon Rahm announced his plans to join LIV. Seismic though it was, hardly anyone had seen it coming. So, when he remained silent as LIV battled through the exit of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), everyone guessed the league’s biggest setback was coming sooner rather than later. Though LIV tried to weather the storm by proposing new terms to one of its biggest creditors, Rahm has rejected the offer.

Rahm’s representative, John Beck, announced the Spaniard’s intentions during LIV’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday. He stated, “Mr. Rahm has independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0… and has determined that those terms are unacceptable to him, and he will not be participating going forward in LIV 2.0.”

In fact, Rahm’s representative and the financially struggling league were in advanced “discussions for a consensual separation agreement between Mr. Rahm and LIV.” A court hearing is scheduled for November 5 to finalize the agreement. But does it really sound surprising?

If you think about Rahm’s earlier statements, he has often repeated that he is willing to fulfill his first contract. He never promised he’d stick for another year and there are multiple reasons this happened.

A bloated contract and unpaid money

The 2023 Masters champion officially signed with LIV Golf on December 7 of the same year. Rahm joined the breakaway league on a multiyear deal reportedly worth $300 million. He was confident when he moved to LIV, but things went wrong.

When PIF pulled its funding, Rahm faced a murky future with LIV Golf amid reports of a massive unpaid sum and concerns over the league’s financial stability.

• The breakaway league reportedly owed him approximately $150 million under his original multi-year deal. 
• According to Alan Shipnuck, LIV’s buyout clause was so insulting that CEO Scott O’Neil couldn’t even bring it to Rahm.
• Quite naturally, Rahm was unwilling to risk his earned compensation on LIV Golf’s uncertain financial restructuring.

The tension was palpable. During a news conference ahead of the LIV Golf event in Virginia, Rahm indicated he had to stay for this reason: “I have several years on my contract left, and I’m pretty sure they did a pretty good job when they drafted that. So I don’t see many ways out.”

When asked if there was any way to exit the contract early, he simply said, “I have no idea. I couldn’t tell you. I have very few talents in my life, and reading a contract or business are not two of them.” 

Rahm’s LIV earnings in just three years are nearly $30 million more than his PGA Tour earnings over 12 years, which totaled roughly $77,096,503. But he wasn’t happy, and that probably became the biggest factor in the end.

There was nothing left to achieve

Alan Shipnuck believed Rahm had achieved everything he could in the breakaway league, and he is right. Just look at what the Spanish International pulled off in three years:

• Won the LIV Golf Individual Championship in 2024, 2025, and 2026, showcasing remarkable consistency.
• Has four individual event victories in the league, including a notable win at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March 2026.
• Led his team, Legion XIII, to the 2025 Team Championship in Michigan following a playoff victory against Crushers GC.
• In August 2026, he became the first LIV golfer to surpass $100 million in career earnings within the circuit.  
• Finished inside the top 10 in every completed individual LIV event during multiple stretches of his tenure. 

Rahm achieved so much on LIV that the competitive thrill may have begun to wear off. How did we reach that conclusion? Well, from Legion XIII’s detached reaction at Indianapolis. 

After Legion XIII won its second consecutive LIV Golf Team Championship with a six-stroke victory over the HyFlyers GC, Rahm spoke about getting a haircut instead of the historic team victory in an interview just a day later.

Winning can’t get more boring, can it? 

The signs were already there, and then came family

Let’s not forget that Rahm compared DPWT’s fines with ransom. The same person cleared his outstanding dues with the DP World Tour ($3 million) in 2026. He has a chance to return to ‌regular European competition and compete in the 2027 Ryder Cup and earn Race to Dubai points. If he is in the top 10, he automatically earns a PGA Tour card for 2027—sidestepping a direct suspension. 

On top of that, relocating will also be a problem for Rahm, with LIV expecting to host seven international events in the coming year. He and his wife are expecting their fourth child, so travelling internationally with four kids is unfeasible. Rahm, in fact, pulled out of the Spanish Open recently because of this.

His family is based in Scottsdale, which is a quick hop from most PGA Tour stops. Moreover, it’s also the host of the famous WM Phoenix Open. Another scenario that works in Rahm’s favor. 

Interestingly enough, just like Brooks Koepka, Rahm was also spotted with PGA Tour-adjacent personalities. On August 17, 2026, Sports Business Journal’s John Carpenter shared intriguing news about Rahm on X. He was spotted playing golf with Jimmy Dunne on Long Island.

Now, Dunne is a former PGA Tour Policy Board member, a close friend of Rahm, and a notorious Wall Street power broker who isn’t afraid to deliver blunt, practical advice. He was also the architect of the PIF-PGAT merger. Even though he resigned in mid-2024 after the player-directors overtook the stalemated negotiations, he’s close to both sides.

Seeing Rahm with Dunne raised speculation about Rahm’s future. Unconfirmed rumors suggested Rahm could join the PGA Tour as early as 2027, but his return will not be easy. Perhaps that’s why he met Dunne to understand his options. Moreover, unlike Bryson DeChambeau, Rahm was never a votary of team golf.

Rahm was never sold on LIV

For over a year, the No. 3-ranked golfer had been bashing the breakaway league for its 54-hole, no-cut, shotgun-start format. He first famously dismissed the league’s primary structure at the 2022 U.S. Open:  

“Shotgun [start] with three days to me is not a golf tournament, no cut… It’s that simple. I wanna play against the best in the world in a format that’s been going on for hundreds of years.” 

Then, in 2023, Rahm bashed the league again for its format on the “Golf Sin Etiquetas” show, insisting on playing for historical legacy over money.  So, when Rahm joined LIV, he faced criticism, which he had anticipated. He explained that the move was “what was best for him and his family,” while the deal also gave him partial ownership of LIV’s new expansion team, Legion XIII.

Rahm had left the PGA Tour and joined LIV, but his views hadn’t changed. Ahead of the 2024 Masters, he urged LIV to abandon its 54-hole format: “If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot… I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.” 

LIV did change its format to 72 holes, but the Spanish International didn’t appear too enchanted. During the Virginia event he was noncommittal, and now, just two months later, he is a free man. His future remains unclear, but it is likely that Rahm will play as a DP World Tour member. Unless the PGA Tour finds a way to bring him back.