Jon Rahm has finally appealed the six-figure fines the DP World Tour imposed on him at the last minute to save his Ryder Cup future.
The Spaniard was given until Thursday afternoon (BST) to pay up or lodge a formal protest in order to play in the Open de Espana later this month. The tournament is important to meet the criteria for participation in next year’s cup match against the United States.
The two-time major winner insisted on Wednesday that he would not accept sanctions from the European circuit for competing in conflicting events after leaving for LIV for £400 million ($500 million) at Christmas last year.
As the deadline for the Espana de Open – one of three tournaments Rahm must play in over the next two months to reach his membership quota of four for the year and therefore essential for him to play in the Ryder Cup – approaches, his representatives contacted the DP World Tour on Thursday morning to confirm they would be pursuing the legal route.
A statement from the DP World Tour said: ‘Jon Rahm has an appeal pending against the sanctions imposed on him and under DP World Tour rules he will be eligible to compete in the Open de España in Madrid later this month.’
Jon Rahm has finally appealed six-figure fines imposed on him by the DP World Tour
The Open de Espana is key to meeting the eligibility criteria for next year’s Ryder Cup competition.
That appeal process is expected to continue into the new year, so he will be eligible to play in the Tour event in Spain and the two others he had his eye on: the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland and the Andalucia Masters in October. So far, he has only ticked off one of the four tournaments needed to retain his membership, thanks to his participation in the Olympics.
His appeal follows that of his LIV team-mate Tyrrell Hatton, who used the same pretext to enter the British Masters last month, leaving the door open for his own Ryder Cup hopes.
It will be a challenge for the LIV rebels to succeed via appeal. An independent panel at Sports Resolutions last year upheld the DP World Tour’s right to impose sanctions for “conflicting events” after it sought to fine its members up to £100,000 ($130,000) every time they played a LIV tournament that clashed with one of their own.