Jon Rahm leaving LIV Golf, attorney reveals, dealing blow to bankrupt league

Wherever LIV Golf goes from here, Jon Rahm won't be a part of it. The two-time major winner is exiting the league as it prepares to transition into its next phase, dubbed "LIV 2.0."

LIV Golf, formerly funded by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, is attempting to reorganize itself into a worldwide tour with other investment. Rahm's departure is a crucial PR blow to the league, which had hoped to capitalize on the star power of its biggest names as it invited investment in its next phase.

Rahm's attorney John Beck announced at LIV's ongoing bankruptcy hearings that Rahm "has independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0 ... and has determined that those terms are unacceptable to him, and he will be not be participating going forward." LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 8.

Still remaining to be determined: Where Rahm plays next, and whether LIV Golf has any remaining contractual hold on him. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has repeatedly stated that there is no pathway back to the Tour for any player with contractual ties to any outside Tour (i.e. LIV Golf). If Rahm is able to demonstrate that he is free of any legal entanglements, he could follow the path of fellow former LIV player Patrick Reed, who has spent a year working his way back onto the Tour via the DP World Tour and other international stops.

The contract status of Rahm and other LIV players is a key component of LIV's current reorganization. As recently as May, LIV CEO Scott O'Neil told Yahoo Sports that Rahm was still under contract to LIV for several years; one of the key questions for LIV's immediate future is whether those contracts are still enforceable or null and void as a result of LIV's bankruptcy proceedings.

Beck indicated in Wednesday's bankruptcy proceedings that Rahm and LIV are working on an exit agreement. LIV has granted Sergio Garcia a release from his deal, but Rahm's remains in question.

Rahm and fellow two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau made for an attractive pitch to potential LIV investors, but DeChambeau is currently a free agent, and Rahm's departure makes LIV's pitch that much more difficult. Rahm, who is still owed somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million, is apparently the largest creditor remaining for LIV Golf, as well as its key drawing card.

Rahm's departure for LIV in late 2023 was a significant coup for the breakaway tour, and seemed to herald that future potential defections would follow. But Rahm, as it turned out, was the last significant name to join LIV, which is now attempting to reorganize itself without Saudi funding.

As Golf.com's James Colgan noted , Rahm's three-year majors record while a member of LIV was a substantial downgrade from his prior run. While with LIV, Rahm played in 11 majors, winning zero, placing in the top 10 four times and the top 5 once while missing two cuts. In the three years prior to joining LIV, Rahm had 12 major starts, finished in the top 10 seven times, did not miss a cut, and won twice at the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters. Rahm has a lifetime exemption into the Masters; his exemptions to the Open Championship and PGA Championship run through the 2028 events, and his U.S. Open exemption runs through the 2031 event.