Jon Rahm’s three-year run with LIV Golf is coming to an end.
Rahm, one of the biggest acquisitions in LIV Golf history and the circuit’s individual champion in each of his three seasons, will not participate in the proposed “LIV Golf 2.0” beginning in 2027, his attorney revealed Wednesday during the league’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in New Jersey.
“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,” attorney John Beck told the court.
Rahm and LIV are now working toward what Beck described as a consensual separation agreement, with the sides attempting to finalize the split by Oct. 15. If an agreement cannot be reached, the dispute could return to bankruptcy court on Nov. 5.
The decision ends a remarkable — and ultimately turbulent — chapter for the 31-year-old Spaniard.
Rahm stunned professional golf in December 2023 when the reigning Masters champion left the PGA TOUR for LIV Golf in what was widely regarded as the league’s most important signing since its launch.
On the course, Rahm largely delivered.
He won LIV Golf’s season-long individual championship in all three of his seasons with the league, including the 2026 title, while serving as captain of Legion XIII. This season alone, Rahm won in Hong Kong and Mexico City and finished runner-up four times.
His departure, therefore, represents considerably more than the loss of another player as LIV attempts to rebuild itself.
Rahm was arguably the centerpiece of LIV’s competitive product — a two-time major champion, former World No. 1 and still one of the most recognizable players in professional golf.
LIV 2.0 Moves Ahead Without Rahm
Rahm’s decision comes at a critical moment for LIV Golf.
The league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8 after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which had provided billions of dollars to finance LIV since its inception, withdrew its previous level of financial backing. LIV is now attempting to emerge from bankruptcy under a dramatically different business model.
BC Partners Credit has agreed to provide up to $300 million in financing, subject to court approval and other conditions, as LIV works toward a proposed 2027 relaunch.
The restructured league is expected to look considerably different from the original product. Current plans call for a 10-event schedule in 2027, with approximately half the tournaments played internationally, while players would receive equity ownership as part of an effort to create a more sustainable economic model.
That model represents a significant departure from LIV’s first era, when enormous guaranteed contracts and tournament purses funded by PIF helped lure some of the biggest names in golf away from the PGA Tour.
Rahm has now decided the new economics do not work for him.
His exit is especially significant because LIV’s restructuring depends heavily on retaining enough recognizable players to make the revamped league commercially viable.
Rahm is not the only player whose future has been in question. Sergio Garcia has pursued his release from his LIV contract, while the futures of several other prominent players remain subjects of negotiations as LIV attempts to establish its 2027 roster.
What’s Next for Rahm?
The obvious question is whether Rahm’s departure from LIV will eventually lead him back to the PGA Tour.
For now, there is no announced PGA Tour return.
That distinction is important.
The Tour created a special Returning Member Program earlier this year that allowed Brooks Koepka to rejoin under significant financial restrictions.
Rahm would have met the program’s competitive criteria because of his 2023 Masters victory, but the program applied only to the 2026 season and required eligible players to apply by Feb. 2.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp also made clear when the program was announced that the window was a one-time opportunity and did not guarantee a similar pathway would exist in the future.
That means Rahm leaving LIV Golf and Rahm returning to the PGA Tour are two separate developments.
The first is now happening.
The second remains unresolved.
Rahm does, however, have an existing relationship with the DP World Tour and is expected to take the Patrick Reed path — a season on the European tour, and a return to the PGA Tour in 2028.
He remains eligible for golf’s four majors for the next two season (2027 and 2028) through 2023 Masters victory exemptions, meaning his immediate access to the game’s four biggest events is not dependent upon a PGA Tour return.
End of LIV’s Rahm Era
Rahm’s decision brings a complicated three-year LIV experiment to a close.
He arrived in December 2023 as perhaps the strongest validation yet of LIV’s ability to attract a player at the absolute peak of his career. Similar to the Cam Smith signing, Rahm was the reigning Masters champion and firmly in the middle of his prime at 29.
Three seasons later, he leaves having dominated LIV’s season-long standings but without adding another major championship.
Now the golf world waits to see where one of its biggest stars lands next.
For LIV, the more immediate concern is moving on without him.
