Justin Rose Says Jon Rahm Should Pay Fines and Return to Ryder Cup

The Englishman said his European Ryder Cup teammate should pay the fines as the “cost of doing business” for the LIV golfer’s status on multiple tours.

Justin Rose would like to be alongside Jon Rahm again at the 2027 Ryder Cup. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Saying it is the “cost of doing business,” Justin Rose called for his European Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm to get his issues with the DP World Tour resolved in order to be able compete in the competition next year in Ireland.

Rahm has refused to pay outstanding fines associated with his competing in conflicting LIV Golf League events, appealed them some 18 months ago, and turned down a deal that eight of his LIV Golf colleagues recently accepted that will allow them to remain members without seeking conflicting event releases.

The deal included dropping appeals and agreeing to play in extra events beyond the four that are required for DP World Tour membership.

“Obviously eight did [LIV players] it and Jon didn’t. So I mean, there’s pretty decent precedent that the deal wasn’t outrageous that they were proposing,” Rose said Tuesday at TPC Sawgrass, where he is competing in the Players Championship.

“But at the same time, I would like to see Jon pay his fines for sure and be a part of the Ryder Cup. For me, obviously playing on LIV was a decision that he made and wanted to make, and fair play to him for making it and good for him. He’s playing good golf out there. He’s winning. He’s making a lot of money, and ... you can’t argue, can’t knock what he’s been able to achieve out there.

“So I would just see it as a cost of doing business for Jon. Like for me, being in the Ryder Cup is more than about money.”

Rahm was reportedly paid in excess of $200 million to join LIV Golf prior to the 2024 season. He’s won the season-long individual title each of the past two years, worth $18 million each time. He’s won three events with a top prize of $4 million each.

But he’s maintained the fines are unfair as he’s been penalized for missing events that he’d not have played otherwise. Even though LIV Golf was paying fines through last year, he has not been in favor of them being paid.

And he declined the DP World Tour deal, he said, mostly over the requirement that he add two events to the required four.

Jon Rahm's sticking point with the proposed DP World Tour deal is its demand that he play two additional events above the minimum of four. | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

“Where he may have a point is the tour making him play extra events,” Rose said. “Maybe he has a point there. So maybe there’s some middle ground where he would do his best to support the tour as and when, but not necessarily have that hung over his head, but paying his fines is obviously step No. 1.”

Rahm would have been fined again last week for missing the Joburg Open in South Africa, which was being played at the same time as the LIV Golf Hong event, which he won, his first victory since September 2024.

Other LIV players, such as Tyrrell Hatton, who accepted the deal would not have needed a release and thus were not fined.

Why Justin Rose wasn’t interested in the 2027 Ryder Cup captaincy

Rose, an Englishman who has gone 16–10–3 in seven Ryder Cup appearances including 2–1 last year during Europe’s win at Bethpage, quickly ruled himself out as a captain candidate, saying he wanted to take another crack at playing.

At age 45, Rose won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year and is ranked fifth in the world. Last week, Ryder Cup Europe named Luke Donald to captain the team for a third time.

Rose was considered a possibility if Donald did not want to return.

“It was always Luke’s decision to make before it was anybody else’s decision to sort of make,” Rose said. “They sounded me out to see where my thinking was for sure, but I think it was always going to be—Luke’s done such an incredible job the last three or four years, however long he was in his position, he gets first call, which I think is absolutely right.

“I think from my point of view, it might have been good timing, but I think also at the same time I still believe that I can play in another one or two or more; let’s see, who knows. I don’t really want to put a time limit on it. But certainly the next one I would love to have a crack at, for sure, as a player.

“That’s been the advice from all the captains and vice captains and players that I played with through the years on Team Europe. They’re like, nothing trumps playing. So that’s always going to be the ultimate goal.”