Well, that answers that.

Jon Rahm will not be part of LIV 2.0. His lawyer, John Beck, told the LIV Golf bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday that the two-time major champion “independently reviewed the terms of LIV 2.0 and determined those terms are unacceptable as to him.”

Lawyers do not get much more polite when they are slamming a door.

The hearing was LIV’s second in its Chapter 11 case in New Jersey. On the docket was the league’s motion to reject or assume executory contracts, which is courtroom speak for “which players are we keeping and which ones are we cutting loose.” Rahm’s contract is a big piece of that pile.

Breakup in progress

It was also said at the hearing that LIV and Rahm’s representatives are “in advanced discussions for a consensual separation agreement between Mr Rahm and LIV.” The hope is to have it finalized at a court hearing on Nov. 5.

That date was already circled. Earlier this week, court documents showed Rahm was the only player whose contract had been pushed to Nov. 5. Everybody else got sorted on the normal schedule. Rahm got his own appointment. Now we know why.

The money part

LIV filed for Chapter 11 in September after Saudi Arabia pulled its funding. BC Partners Credit has lined up as much as $300 million in financing to try to get a 2027 season off the ground, and players would own 52.5 percent of the new league.

Rahm is no ordinary departing player. He sits at the top of LIV’s list of largest unsecured claims at $7.5 million, according to the BBC. He left the PGA Tour in December 2023 for a deal reported at around $300 million.

Meanwhile, the clock is running for everyone else. BC Partners pushed the player commitment deadline from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25, and the approval hearing is set for Oct. 14.

He told us, sort of

Rahm has spent weeks being about as committal as a guy reading a dinner menu in a foreign language. Asked last month what would have to change for him to leave, he said, “Well, there’s a long legal process they have to go through before a lot of things fall into place. I really can’t give you an answer right now.”

Pressed on whether he had a commitment to 2.0, he went with: “I said what I said.”

Turns out he said plenty.

What’s next

The Nov. 5 hearing is the next big date for Rahm. Sergio Garcia already got the court’s blessing to end his LIV deal, so there is a path out.

Where Rahm plays in 2027 is still an open question. He remains a DP World Tour member, but his conditional release from that tour covered only 2026, and he still owes roughly two more starts, likely Abu Dhabi and Dubai. On the PGA Tour side, the one-time return window it once offered Rahm and a few others has closed, and LIV players have otherwise faced a year-long suspension to come back.

He has bigger news coming first, though. Rahm withdrew from the Spanish Open this week with his wife expecting the couple’s fourth child.

New baby, new contract situation, same guy who wins a lot. Stay tuned.

Sources