File photo: Jon Rahm mid-swing follow-through in Europe team kit at the 2025 Ryder Cup, Bethpage Black, Sept. 23, 2025. Photo: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Jon Rahm is leaving LIV Golf. At a Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing in New Jersey on Wednesday, his lawyer told the court that Rahm had reviewed the league's proposed "LIV 2.0" terms, called them unacceptable, and won't be part of the league going forward. The news landed three days after Rahm had already pulled out of this week's Open de Espana, his home national open, to be with his family for the birth of his fourth child.
LIV Golf's Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing took place in New Jersey on Wednesday, October 7, US time, according to Bloomberg. Rahm's lawyer, John Beck, told the judge that Rahm had reviewed the league's proposed "LIV 2.0" terms, found them "unacceptable," and said Rahm "will not be participating going forward in LIV 2.0." Golf Digest and Yahoo Sports both confirmed the same language from the hearing. A bankruptcy courtroom is an unusual place for a tour pro's future to get settled, but it's the venue LIV's restructuring put the question in, and Beck's statement is now the clearest public account of where Rahm stands.
Beyond the headline break, Beck didn't detail what Rahm found unacceptable about the new terms, and neither Bloomberg nor Golf Digest reported further specifics from the hearing. A separation agreement between Rahm and LIV is reportedly expected to be finalized next week, per The National, which would formalize the exit beyond Wednesday's courtroom statement.
Rahm joined LIV Golf in late 2023 in one of the league's highest-profile signings, and whatever comes next for him, the on-course record while he was there isn't in question. He won three straight LIV individual season titles, a run that made him the league's most consistent winner across the stretch he's now leaving. That record is part of why his departure carries more weight than a rank-and-file roster move: LIV loses the player who has topped its individual standings every year he's competed in it.
Rahm withdrew from the Open de Espana on October 6, a day before the bankruptcy hearing, citing the birth of his fourth child, according to RTE. The timing has a quieter consequence beyond missing his home national open: Madrid would have been his fourth DP World Tour start of the season, which is the minimum required to keep his tour membership active for next year. His withdrawal means that threshold went unmet this week, though none of the reporting on the bankruptcy hearing or the withdrawal addresses what, if anything, Rahm or the DP World Tour plans to do about it from here.
Six other players are reportedly seeking to end their LIV contracts in the same bankruptcy proceedings, according to multiple outlets: Sergio Garcia, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Tringale, Byeong-hun An, Marc Leishman, and Cameron Smith. That's a meaningfully different claim than Rahm's, and it's one I think is worth holding apart rather than folding into a single tidy story. Rahm's exit is confirmed, in his own lawyer's words to a federal judge. The other six are reported as seeking to end their contracts, not as having left, and that distinction matters for anyone trying to gauge how many players are actually walking away from the league right now. Bryson DeChambeau isn't on this list: his lawyers have sought contract clarity in the same proceedings, a narrower and more disputed claim that stops short of what the other six are reportedly asking for. Garcia's situation also overlaps with this week's other story out of Spain: he's sitting T4 after the first round of the Open de Espana in Madrid while his LIV future is reportedly being sorted out in a New Jersey courtroom.
Rahm's withdrawal left the tournament without its headline draw, but Club de Campo Villa de Madrid still produced a tight first-round board, with Garcia playing his way into contention the same week his LIV contract status made news. Eugenio Chacarra, Connor Syme, and Grant Forrest shared the lead at 5 under par with rounds of 66. One shot back at 4 under, Daniel Hillier, Angel Ayora, Sergio Garcia, and Jacob Skov Olesen rounded out the group within range of the lead.
| Position | Player | Score | Round 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Eugenio Chacarra | -5 | 66 |
| T1 | Connor Syme | -5 | 66 |
| T1 | Grant Forrest | -5 | 66 |
| T4 | Daniel Hillier | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Angel Ayora | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Sergio Garcia | -4 | 67 |
| T4 | Jacob Skov Olesen | -4 | 67 |
For the build-up to the week, including the field and the course, see our Open de Espana 2026 preview.
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