The Sports Guru
Jon Rahm has been asked whether he'll still be a LIV Golf player in 2027, and his answer raises more questions than it settles. This piece looks at what his careful wording, alongside a fresh Asian Tour deal that sidesteps LIV entirely, suggests about the league's position as its Saudi funding runs out. Read on to understand why one player's evasiveness might be the clearest signal yet of where professional golf is heading.
Jon Rahm was given a direct question in Staffordshire on Tuesday: will you still be playing LIV Golf in 2027? He gave an answer that confirmed almost nothing while implying he knows almost everything. "We know a lot of what's going on," the Spaniard said, before adding he wasn't "going to share anything that I can't share with you guys right now." That single sentence, more than any tournament result this week, is the story.
A question with no clean answer
Rahm's caution isn't incidental. LIV Golf's future beyond this season is in genuine doubt after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund confirmed in April that it is ending its funding for the series. As one of the league's highest-profile signings since joining at the start of 2024, Rahm's own position has become a proxy for the wider question hanging over LIV: who, if anyone, keeps paying for it after 2026.
Asked outright whether he expected to be playing on LIV next year, he wouldn't say. Pressed on whether his tone sounded optimistic, he deflected again, insisting he's "always optimistic" because he plays "a game for a living" and can't afford to be too upset about how life is going. It's a pleasant enough line, but it answers a different question to the one he was asked.
Why the timing matters
Rahm's press conference came on the same day the Asian Tour announced a new partnership with the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour, a deal that threatens its existing arrangement with LIV. That partnership has run since 2022, with LIV having invested $300m in the Asian Tour to build the International Series, an event with purses of up to $2m won by LIV players including Peter Uihlein, Carlos Ortiz and David Puig. Asian Tour commissioner Cho Minn Thant framed the new deal as expanding opportunity, saying the three tours coming together would "increase the bandwidth of the professional game in Asia."
Rory McIlroy's reaction was blunt approval: "Positive news, and great to see the respective tours working together for the good of international golf." Whatever the wording, the practical effect is that a tour LIV helped fund is now aligning itself with the rivals LIV was built to challenge. That's the backdrop against which Rahm's guardedness has to be read: not simply a player declining to gossip, but a player watching the ground shift under a league he committed to for the long term.
The code of conduct question he can't dodge either
Rahm's guardedness over 2027 sat alongside a separate frustration closer to home. He returned to LIV action this week after finishing tied 46th at The Open, having shot four-over in his final round at Royal Birkdale. During that tournament he received a code of conduct warning after throwing his club following his tee shot on the par-three 15th, under rules new for 2026's majors. Asked whether he now understood where the line sits between a warning and a two-shot penalty, his answer was similarly unvarnished: "I personally have no idea what the line is. No clue." He added that it "would be nice to have some clarity," noting he'd forgotten about the incident entirely until it happened, despite multiple warnings having been issued to players across the week.
Two different uncertainties, one running theme. Rahm is a player operating inside systems, LIV's finances and golf's new disciplinary code, where the rules are being written in real time and he's not being told the full picture as it happens.
What his silence actually signals
None of this means Rahm is leaving LIV, and nothing in his comments suggests he expects the league to collapse outright. But a player who says he's in contact with LIV and knows "a lot" while declining to share any of it is not a man simply protecting a surprise announcement. He's someone whose own next move likely depends on decisions being made above him, by investors, by rival tours, by an Asian Tour that has just demonstrated it can strike deals elsewhere. Rahm's caution reads less like discretion and more like a man waiting to see which version of professional golf still exists in twelve months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund confirmed in April that it is ending its funding for LIV Golf after this season, leaving the league's future beyond 2026 unclear for all its players, including Rahm.
He said he is in contact with LIV and knows "a lot of what's going on," but declined to share any details, saying he wasn't going to disclose anything he couldn't share at that time.
The Asian Tour announced a deal with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, a move that puts pressure on its existing partnership with LIV Golf, which has run since 2022 and included a $300m LIV investment in the Asian Tour's International Series.
Rahm received a warning during the second round of The Open at Royal Birkdale after throwing his club on the par-three 15th, under new-for-2026 major code of conduct rules he says he doesn't fully understand.
Research: Our wider editorial research consults online reporting from BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian and other reputable sources. Story inspiration: Sky Sports' original report.