There Should Be No Special Ryder Cup Rules For Jon Rahm

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

The BMW PGA Championship boasts a world-class field at Wentworth but there is one eye-catching omission. 

If Jon Rahm wants to be considered for Europe’s Ryder Cup team to take on the USA at Bethpage in 12 months time he needs to play in three DP World Tour events before the season ends, but he won’t be at Wentworth because he is otherwise engaged with LIV’s season finale.

Time is running out for him. Rahm says that he loves the Ryder Cup, that Team Europe runs through his veins. There is little doubt that he has the potential to leave his mark on the event in the way that Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia did. 

And most right-minded golf followers would want to see him in the team because it would be stronger with him.

However, the rules are clear. If you want to play in the Ryder Cup - and Rahm says that he does - you have to be a member of the DP World Tour. 

He would first have to pay a series of fines as his punishment for joining LIV. There is also another route. It has emerged that Rahm has now launched an appeal against those fines and that will enable him to compete on the DP World Tour - as Tyrrell Hatton did in order to play in the British Masters. It is a sign that the Spaniard may well be putting his name down for some tournaments in the coming weeks.

There are lots of high-profile golfers going in to bat on Rahm’s behalf. Rory McIlroy has said that it is unthinkable to field a European team without the Spaniard, and Justin Rose has also said that he wants to see Rahm in the side.

The player himself says that he loves the contest so you would think that he might want to prove that.

After this week there are just seven events left in the DP World Tour season. Interestingly, two of them are being played in Spain - the Open de Espana and the Andalucia Masters - so there is still time for Rahm to do what needs to be done.

But this week sees the DP World Tour’s flagship event with the strongest field apart from the Scottish Open and Open Championship.

We will watch Rory McIlroy attempting to win the tournament as he aims to secure the Race to Dubai title. And he will be joined by the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, defending champion Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre…the list goes on.

Adam Scott, who is playing in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal next week, is to be applauded for finding a place in his schedule for this tournament. 

Rahm is competing in LIV’s season-ending Team Championship at Maridoe Golf Club this week. However, I cannot help feeling that he will be casting an envious eye in the direction of Surrey.

There is, of course, time for him to enter the Open de Espana and Andalucia Masters - and decent performances there would get him into the Race to Dubai Fall Events.

But will he do so? And what happens if he doesn’t?

I firmly believe that there should be one set of rules for everybody - and that includes Rahm. Yes, Luke Donald’s team would be stronger with him in the line-up, but European golf is in a really good place right now.

We have seen a host of Europeans enjoying tremendous success on the PGA Tour in 2024. 

Who would ever have thought we would be celebrating victories for Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon, Aaron Rai and Harry Hall? 

And then there are the likes of Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, Jesper Svensson, Tom McKibbin and Guido Migliozzi.

That is before you turn to McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Lowry, a resurgent Rose, Fitzpatrick, etc, etc.

There are those who will say that Europe need Jon Rahm. I think he needs Europe and the Ryder Cup rather more.