Jon Rahm Says He'd Accept Koepka-Style Deal to Rejoin PGA Tour

Jon Rahm said this week he would accept the same penalties Brooks Koepka paid to rejoin the PGA Tour, as players across the Tour offered sharply different views on how departing LIV Golf players should be allowed back following the league's collapse.

What did Jon Rahm say about his PGA Tour return?

Rahm teed it up in Abu Dhabi this week for the first time since announcing his departure from LIV Golf. He said he has not yet opened discussions with the PGA Tour about a return and understands that the Returning Member Program, the mechanism that allowed Koepka back earlier this year, is likely not available to him. Asked whether he would accept the same deal Koepka received if it were offered, Rahm said he probably would.

He called it "a big if," noting he doubts the Tour would extend identical terms, but added that serving a one-year suspension would leave him in a "pretty good position" either way, since he would still have a full season on the DP World Tour.

What penalties did Brooks Koepka pay to return?

Koepka's path back to the PGA Tour under the Returning Member Program carried specific costs, which Rahm referenced directly in discussing his own situation.

How do other PGA Tour players feel about LIV returnees?

Opinions inside the locker room vary widely. Xander Schauffele described it as a membership split into "three or four boxes," from players who don't care to others who want defectors fined heavily before they're welcomed back.

Erik van Rooyen, playing this week's World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, took the hardest line, telling Golfweek's Adam Schupak: "Go back to Q-school." Player director Adam Scott agreed players should re-establish themselves rather than be handed a spot, telling Today's Golfer they should "re-qualify." Rory McIlroy instead wants defectors funneled through the DP World Tour, winning PGA Tour cards through a small allotment of Race to Dubai spots. Scottie Scheffler and Lucas Glover both said penalties should be paid, while stopping short of Van Rooyen's position.

Rahm's willingness to pay is turning golf's biggest outstanding question into a simple negotiation over price.

PGA Tour Commissioner Brian Rolapp has not issued a statement since LIV announced its liquidation, but he laid out his framework for any returning player in August: that the Tour is built on meritocracy, governed by member rules and that "rules only matter if they're enforced."

Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia are among the former LIV players planning to play the DP World Tour in 2027, a schedule that could offer a route back to the PGA Tour through the top 10 of the non-exempt Race to Dubai rankings.