Jon Rahm is leaving LIV Golf after deeming the proposed terms of the restructured league "unacceptable."
The loss of Rahm, the two-time major champion, is a major setback for LIV,
just two days after it announced a restructuring agreement with BC Partners that CEO Scott O'Neal said was "delivering" on major milestones and marked "meaningful progress" toward "a new player-owned, team-focused, truly global league."But the 31-year-old Spaniard saw it much differently.
"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," Rahm's attorney, John Beck, said during a hearing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey Judge
Michael B. Kaplan on Wednesday.
LIV is working on finalizing a separation deal with Rahm.
Jon Rahm's path back to PGA Tour uncertain
Rahm's path back to the PGA Tour is uncertain and it is not known when he might play in 2027. The 11-time PGA Tour champion is eligible for The Players Championship and four majors by virtue of his 2023 Masters title.
Like Brooks Koepka, who returned to the PGA Tour in January, Rahm will have to work his way back into the PGA Tour's signature events.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp confirmed on Sept. 15 that the Tour has no plans to bring back the same program that allowed Koepka to return and was offered to Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith at the start of the season.
All three declined.
Rahm, who is a member of the DP World Tour, was a major coup for LIV when he joined in December 2023. The highest-ranked golfer to defect from the PGA Tour, he joined LIV for a reported deal of more than $300 million and an ownership stake that brought his deal to more than $500 million.
Rahm won four individual titles and three season-long individual titles on LIV.
LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy protection in September, five months after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announced it would no longer bankroll the league after committing more than $5 billion since its inaugural season of 2022.
The Chapter 11 filing revealed LIV Golf's assets between $100 million and $500 million with liabilities of $500 million and $1 billion. It listed several players owed money, including Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson.
Rahm was owed $7.5 million.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Now that Jon Rahm is officially leaving LIV Golf, when will he return to PGA Tour?
