"I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I'm more than willing to fulfil, so like I said, time will tell."
With these words, Jon Rahm surely gave the clearest indication to date that he actually has no intention of continuing with LIV Golf, now being branded as LIV 2.0. There is clearly not the remotest chance of LIV being able to fulfil the terms of Rahm’s original contract.
LIV Golf says that it intends to commence its new majority player-owned league early next year and it is understood the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process allows it to start talking to players about their participation in LIV's future.
It is believed there is no obligation on players to sign on to LIV 2.0, regardless of whether they had previously signed multi-year contracts with LIV Golf. Why would there be? The goalposts have been moved to the opposite side of the pitch. This is no longer what these individuals signed up for.
Contracts under the previous LIV Golf banner will finish because of the court filing, with amounts owed to players and other creditors addressed through the court process.
Speaking in the wake of LIV filing for that bankruptcy protection, Rahm was careful with his words when approached about his plans.
When asked if he knew what the future held, he said: "Yes and no. There's just a lot of things in place, right? There's a lot of things that could happen and it's one of those things where time's gonna tell."
(Image Credit: LIV Golf)
Rahm is known to be owed £5.5m by LIV, and probably a great deal more. He is playing in the Irish Open this week and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth alongside a host of other high-profile LIV stars.
Meanwhile, a number of others have been taking part in DP World Tour qualifying for 2027 with mixed results. Peter Uihlein was disqualified from the first stage of qualifying in Huddersfield after failing to turn up for his third-round tee time. He had opened with rounds of 74 and 73.
LIV chief Scott O’Neill insists he has found a new investor in BC Partners, following the decision in April by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to pull its funding.
But the league has filed for bankruptcy protection with assets valued at £74m-£370m and its liabilities at between £370m-£739m.
Rahm is not the only player owed serious money.
Bryson DeChambeau (£4.2m), Dustin Johnson (£4.1m), Cameron Smith ( £3.5m) and Tyrrell Hatton (£2.5m) are also among the top 30 creditors, as well as Brooks Koepka, who left to rejoin the PGA Tour in January but has an unsecured claim of £1.25m.
I am no legal expert but this surely amounts to breach of contract and opens the way for all the above named golfers to pack their bags and walk away. The only question to be answered is where they play.
The likes of Rahm and Hatton have paid their outstanding fines to the DP World Tour and will be playing there, knowing they can pick up world ranking points and work their way back to the PGA Tour in 2028.
DeChambeau has spoken of focusing on his social media status, while Smith and Johnson face a dilemma. Do they turn to the DP World Tour or do they eat humble pie and approach the PGA Tour, knowing they would face massive financial sanctions? Only time will tell.
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