Rory McIlroy Calls on Jon Rahm And Tyrrell Hatton To Pay DP World Tour Fines

Rory McIlroy has called on Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to pay their DP World Tour fines to remain eligible for the European Ryder Cup team.

The LIV Golf pair are currently able to play on the European circuit after appealing their fines and sanctions for playing in LIV events without conflicting event releases, with a date for the appeal to be settled currently unknown.

The DP World Tour is expected to win the appeal after winning an arbitration panel hearing against LIV Golfers in 2023, which confirmed it was allowed to impose sanctions on its members for playing in competing events on LIV.

Jon Rahm has maintained he will not pay his fines, which reportedly will not be paid by LIV Golf anymore after Sergio Garcia and possibly others too had theirs paid by the PIF-backed circuit.

Patrick Reed is another player to be facing fines and sanctions, and he confirmed this week to The Telegraph and Golf Digest that he will be paying them to continue playing on the European Tour.

Lee Westwood revealed he had outstanding DP World Tour fines of over $1m in 2024, while Garcia's were believed to be in excess of $1m as well.

Rahm recently told the Subpar Podcast that his fines are around $3m.

The futures of Rahm and Hatton in the Ryder Cup appear to be in at least some kind of doubt, so McIlroy says they should pay the fines after agreeing to the terms when they joined the tour.

"Absolutely," McIlroy said in answer to whether it would just be easier for the LIV pair to pay up.

"Main thing is, look, this is my opinion. We went really hard on the Americans about being paid to play the Ryder Cup, and we also said that we would pay to play in Ryder Cups. There's two guys that can prove it.

"Great. I think that's -- yeah," he stopped.

Tyrrell Hatton was then asked about McIlroy's comments following his pro-am round, and he said he doesn't "really have anything to add towards what he said."

"To be honest I don't have an update to give," Hatton said on the appeal.

"It's still with legal teams and there's guys that are still in conversations working it all out. So I haven't put any more thought into that. Like I don't really know what's happening. So, yeah, I'm just here to play golf as always."

McIlroy says the pair would have agreed to the tour's terms before leaving for LIV Golf and doesn't see anything wrong with the circuit imposing sanctions.

"I think any organization or any members' organisation like this has a right to uphold its rules and regulations," he said.

"And what the DP World Tour are doing is upholding their rules and regulations and we, as members, sign a document at the start of every year, which has you agree to these rules and regulations, and the people that made the option to go to LIV knew what they were.

"So I don't see what's wrong with that, I guess, is my opinion."

Speaking ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic, the five-time Major winner also reiterated his opinion that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will not be reuniting any time soon because neither side will be able to make enough compromises.

"I just don't see a world where it can happen at this point," he told media.

"Just I don't see a world where the two or three sides or whoever it is will give up enough.

"Like for reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won.

"I think they are just too far apart for that to happen."