To become a Ryder Cup member of the European team, golfers must hold a DP World Tour membership. Those who join LIV Golf and don’t pay the fine cannot play in the Ryder Cup. But both Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton played in the 2025 Ryder Cup. The reason they were able to do so is that they appealed sanctions from the DP World Tour, which put their suspension on hold. Although the battle at Bethpage Black is over, the appeal and the legal battle arising from it still stand. Both Rahm and Hatton have refused to pay the fines, and former PGA Tour pro Smylie Kaufman is not happy with that.

“I understand why they would be so frustrated by all this, but they also know that there are rules in place that, from a competitive standpoint, if you’re a member of this tour, you can’t go join a rival tour. There’s rules in place just like in any other business,” Smylie Kaufman said on The Smylie Show on Wednesday.

DP World Tour has placed some rules to prevent its member golfers from playing on other tours. Although it does give PGA Tour cards to the top 10 golfers on the Race to Dubai rankings, members cannot play on other tours without permission. When LIV Golf was established in 2022, it shook the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour. While the PGA Tour decided to straight away ban its members from joining LIV, the DP World Tour imposed these rules.

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“The DP World Tour today confirmed that it has issued sanctions for players who breached the Tour’s Conflicting Tournament Regulation by competing in LIV Golf and Asian Tour events without releases to do so,” said the official statement by the tour. The fines levied ranged up to £100,000 per individual breach. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton have decided not to pay these fines. Rahm even said that, “To be fair, I completely forgot about it, which is a good thing. I hope I forget about it until it happens.” While it is their choice, it can affect their chance of playing at the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.

Reflecting on the same, Smylie Kaufman said, “I want to get back to the thing you just mentioned at the top, which was Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm and their appeals process that they’re going through and how that potentially could affect the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor with those two guys not playing. You got to be a DP World Tour member. I think that’s what a lot of people got to remember in this, why can’t they play? It’s like you have to be a member of this tour.”

This year, they got to play because the appeal prevented their ban. But once the decision is made, they may lose their membership if they don’t pay the fines. They could pay the outstanding fines, continue their membership, and have a chance to play in the 2027 Ryder Cup. The second option is just to resign their DP World Tour membership. Many European golfers have done this. Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, and Henrik Stenson are among some of the biggest names from the DP World Tour who resigned their membership.

While Rahm is currently entitled to tee off at any DP World Tour event, he has decided to take a break.

Jon Rahm’s four-month break

Jon Rahm was 57th on the Race to Dubai rankings before the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Besides that, he was also a 2025 Ryder Cup member. Thus, he was entitled to tee it off in Dubai. However, he decided not to. Some of his fellow European team members used their Ryder Cup status to join the DP World Tour Play-Offs. Ludvig Aberg and Shane Lowry did this. Sepp Straka also decided to play but withdrew because of a family emergency.

While Rahm was eligible in both ways, he announced a four-month break. “I’ve never had three months off before, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m lucky to be able to go home now, to have a preseason, to be a father, to be with my family,” the Spaniard said after the Spanish Open. Jon Rahm will now resume playing golf in the LIV Golf season opener in Riyadh in February 2026.

Rahm’s decision for this significant pause came amid a challenging and frustrating season for him. Although he had 12 top-10 finishes in 2025, he didn’t win any title on the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour. It was his first winless season after turning pro in 2016.

Jon Rahm’s refusal to pay the fines has kept his future with the tour and his Ryder Cup hopes uncertain. As his appeal continues, DP World Tour faces a major decision. The tour is allowing members to play the LIV Golf promotional. However, the promotional event does not overlap with any DP World Tour events. What the board decides about the colliding events will decide the fate of many golfers on the DP World Tour.