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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
Jon Rahm said he intends to play in three DP World Tour events by the end of the season to remain eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup.
Rahm isn’t sure, however, whether the DP World Tour will allow him to compete in those tournaments because he’s refusing to pay fines levied against him for playing in the LIV Golf League without a conflicting-event release.
Rahm entered the Spanish Open on Sept. 26-29 and said his representatives are still talking with DP World Tour officials about how to resolve the situation.
“Well, I’m entered into the tournament,” Rahm told reporters Wednesday during a news conference at Bolingbrook Golf Club outside Chicago, the site of this week’s LIV Golf tournament. “We entered a long time ago. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing. I’m not a big fan of the fines. I think I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.”
Rahm also wants to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland on Oct. 3-6 and the Andalucia Masters at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in Spain two weeks later. That schedule would meet the DP World Tour’s requirements for remaining eligible for the Ryder Cup. Rahm would probably need European team captain Luke Donald to use one of his six captain’s picks on him.
Rahm’s wife, Kelley, is expecting their third child in the next few weeks.
“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else,” Rahm said. “I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande. At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play.
“So yeah, that’s why we’re trying to talk to them and make that happen. I would love to be able to play all those events.”
Rahm, captain of the Legion XIII team, has a narrow lead of about three points over Torque GC captain Joaquín Niemann in the LIV Golf individual points race. They are the only golfers who are still mathematically able to claim the title and the lucrative $18 million bonus.
“Obviously, it would be a great accomplishment to come in in my first season and win it,” Rahm said. “It is the goal, but it’s not easy to do, especially with how great players like [Niemann] have played. Even just getting to this point, it’s been a good year. I think overall, what I felt like I’ve played and maybe what I’ve read in the media of how I’ve been playing hasn’t matched what I was feeling. I think I was playing better golf than I was given credit for.”
Legion XIII is second in the team standings, just a half-point behind Bryson DeChambeau‘s Crushers GC.
LIV Golf’s season-ending team championship will be played next week at Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas.