Jon Rahm is set to remain eligible for the Ryder Cup after appealing against his outstanding fines for defecting to LIV Golf.
Rahm either had to pay his fines or launch an appeal in order to be allowed to contest DP World Tour events and has entered the Spanish Open, Dunhill Links Championship and Andalucia Masters.
Entries for the Spanish Open closed at noon on Thursday and Rahm launched his appeal in time to be included in the field.
A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: "Jon Rahm has a pending appeal against sanctions imposed on him and in accordance with the DP World Tour's Regulations, he is eligible to participate in the acciona Open de Espana presented by Madrid later this month."
In order to remain eligible for next year’s contest at Bethpage, Rahm has to play in four DP World Tour events this season – the Olympics counts as one – and he revealed on Wednesday he had entered the required three tournaments, though not this week's Irish Open, which he won in 2017 and 2019.
The two-time major winner also said he had no intention of paying the substantial fines he has accrued for playing in LIV events without permission.
Rahm’s Ryder Cup and Legion XIII team-mate Tyrrell Hatton was able to contest the British Masters a fortnight ago by appealing against his fines and Rahm has now followed suit.
Speaking ahead of LIV Chicago, Rahm said: "I’m not a big fan of the fines.
"I don’t intend to pay the fines and we keep trying to have a discussion with them (the DP World Tour) about how we can make this happen.
"I intend to play in Spain. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing."
Speaking yesterday, Shane Lowry said: "Do I want Jon Rahm on the Ryder Cup team? Yes.
"Should there be exceptions made? I'm not sure, that’s not for me to decide.
"At the end of the day, we want to try and have the 12 best players next year in Bethpage. If he’s one of them, then yeah, we probably do want him.
"Rambo in the Ryder Cup is an absolute animal… but is any one person bigger than the Ryder Cup. I’m not sure, we’ll see."
Players who initially joined LIV in 2022 appealed against their suspensions and fines and were able to compete until April 2023 when an arbitration panel found in favour of the DP World Tour and ratified its right to enforce its regulations.
However, the DP World Tour has not outright banned LIV players from playing in their events, as the PGA Tour has.
"From my standpoint, very happy to hear he made that decision" - Luke Donald
Europe captain Luke Donald was given the news of Rahm's appeal moments after finishing his first round in the Amgen Irish Open.
"From my standpoint, very happy to hear he made that decision," Donald said. "I know he was sitting on the fence a little bit.
"Very glad that he’s done that to allow him to play and create some time for things in the world of golf to hopefully figure themselves out."
That was a reference to the talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) – which bankrolls LIV Golf – which have been ongoing since the organisations signed a shock "framework agreement" in June last year.
"We’re all being very patient right now," Donald added. "It’s been frustrating for a lot of the players to see how slow everything’s going. I’ve heard in the last couple of weeks there’s been a little bit more progress."
The former world number one is confident there will be no issues with team spirit if Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton make the side to defend the trophy at Bethpage next year.
Donald added: "We created a very good bond in Rome and that's still there. I don’t have any worries.
"The first issue was to try to get Jon eligible, Tyrrell and some of those guys eligible so I had the chance to pick them on my team. The whole camaraderie and culture, that can be worked on next year.
"I’m still talking to the guys within the group individually and I think our culture, we always figure a way to come together and play for more than ourselves."
