On Wednesday, a judicial settlement was finalized between Jon Rahm and LIV Golf, wherein the two-time major winner consented to surrender every financial demand—encompassing earnings, bonuses, tournament payouts, and yearly stipends—from the organization where he competed over the past three seasons. As part of the resolution, Rahm regains ownership of his personal branding, image, and likeness rights, permitting him to join a different golfing tour.
According to court filings, the settlement seeks to serve as “a complete economic walk-away.” The deal remains subject to official authorization by Judge Michael B. Kaplan in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, scheduled for Nov. 5.
Along with his personal identity rights, Rahm preserves ownership of the trademarks “Rahmbo” and “Legion XIII,” which was the title of his LIV Golf squad. Should Rahm rejoin the PGA Tour and enter TGL competition, though, he will be barred from utilizing Legion XIII as a franchise title.
Until former LIV Golf competitors achieve total contractual resolution, the PGA Tour has refused to engage in discussions with them. Meanwhile, Rahm keeps his eligibility active on the DP World Tour, where he is set to return to play during the tour’s playoff series to finish out the 2026 season.
When LIV Golf submitted its Chapter 11 filing at the start of September, Rahm emerged as the tour’s primary unsecured creditor, holding an unpaid balance of $7.5 million.
The former top-ranked golfer stunned the sporting realm toward the end of 2023 by committing to LIV Golf under a deal rumored to be worth $300 million, though the exact sum he received remains undisclosed.
Throughout his spell with LIV Golf, the 31-year-old accumulated over $100 million in tournament payouts alone. Over three years, he secured four solo titles and swept all three season-long individual points titles. He opened his LIV Golf career by placing among the top 10 in his initial 17 finished events, while his roster gathered multiple honors along the way.
Despite his solid performances on the LIV Golf tour, Rahm experienced a dip in performance during major tournaments over that span. Having captured two major titles in the preceding three-year span (the 2021 U.S. Open and 2023 Masters), he rarely found himself in contention across the four grand slam events between 2024 and 2026.
His strongest attempt at securing a third major title occurred in 2026, when he took second place behind Aaron Rai at the PGA Championship. In the 11 major tournaments he played while tied to LIV Golf, Rahm logged four top-10 finishes and ended up beyond 30th place six times, which featured two missed cuts.
At LIV Golf’s bankruptcy proceedings last week, legal counsel representing Rahm stated that his client “independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0 … and has determined that those terms are unacceptable to him, and he will not be participating going forward,” as reported by Front Office Sports.
