While the PGA Tour is in the midst of the FedEx Cup Fall, questions have emerged over the last couple of months from other pockets of the golf world. LIV Golf continues to navigate its bankruptcy process, which is expected to conclude with a league liquidation in early 2027, while the DP World Tour heads to Dubai to wrap up its postseason.
At the center of both is Jon Rahm, who remains one of the best golfers in the world even if he has played fewer tournaments of consequence over the last couple of years. What, exactly, will Rahm do now that LIV Golf has shuttered and he has negotiated a release from his contract?
As for the women’s game, it continues to saunter on with WTGL being introduced to audiences this past weekend as its inaugural season commenced.
The game keeps moving, and CBS Sports is keeping up with it as we dive into the most pressing issues and conversation points with the inaugural edition of The Three Putt.
Rahm finds himself eligible to play on the DP World Tour in 2027, but he has expressed an openness to returning to the PGA Tour and even accepting some penalties should an offer materialize from CEO Brian Rolapp and other key parties. If you were manning the PGA Tour, how would you handle Rahm and his status entering next season?
Robby Kalland: I’m offering him a similar, but more expensive, version of the deal Brooks Koepka took (which Rahm and others declined). Rahm famously waited until LIV Golf made him an offer he felt he couldn’t refuse, and while he’s going to miss out on a considerable sum of that money after the league’s bankruptcy, the financial penalty (charitable donation) to return should exceed the $5 million Koepka had to pay. I would double it to $10 million so Rahm could prove allegiance to the Tour and membership he turend his back on. Beyond that, I would keep the general structure — forfeiting five years of eligibility for the Player Equity Program and missing out on 2027 FedEx Cup bonus payouts.
Forcing Rahm to play on the DP World Tour, which is still something of a competitor even with the strategic alliance, for a year is not in the best interests of the PGA Tour. All parties will realize it’s best to find a path back to the PGA Tour. What would be your ideal agreement in this scenario?
Patrick McDonald: I’m bringing him back, too, and as you said, both sides are incentivized to reach a deal. It won’t be as straightforward as Koepka (if we want to call that straightforward) since Rahm is eligible for signature events via the Official World Golf Rankings as of now, and the FedEx Cup is coming to an end after 2027, but the executives are making enough money to hash all the details out to appease the membership while penalizing Rahm. It should be noted what the start of the PGA Tour schedule means to Rahm, a former winner at The American Express and the Genesis Invitational. He also has connections to both Torrey Pines and the Scottsdale area, where he and his family of six reside.
Kalland: I’ll also make one final note on the appeasing membership point. Rolapp understands fully that not everyone is created equal in the PGA Tour hierarchy. While Rahm learned the hard way — when he jumped ship for LIV Golf — that he’s not the needle mover he thought he might be, he’s still worthy of having a door opened for him, whether that’s fair or not. There will be some who cry foul, but as you noted, he’s still high enough in the rankings to qualify for the top events on merit without having to really bend any rules.
McDonald: Golfers, crying?! Never.
Let’s shift gears, considering the DP World Tour is about to end its season. Rahmbo is up to No. 11 in the Race to Dubai standings after his win in Abu Dhabi. Another LIV Golf alumnus, Eugenio Chacarra, is leading the season-long race with Rory McIlroy eyeing his eighth Race to Dubai belt and Patrick Reed rounding out the top three. What are you looking forward to the most?
Kalland: I want to see if Chacarra can fend off Reed, McIlroy and the rest. He’s been electric this year, establishing himself as a star on the DP World Tour with three wins and four other top-3 finishes after a relatively quiet final couple of seasons on LIV Golf. For American golf fans, he’s a lock to earn his PGA Tour card through the Race to Dubai rankings, and this will be a chance to get familiar with a guy who could come out swinging on the Tour in 2027. We’re going to get to see him under some serious pressure from the world’s best in Dubai, and I’m hoping he affirms his spot as a rising star. What’s got your attention?
McDonald: Chacarra’s play and charisma have brought the term “swashbuckler” back into my lexicon, so I thank him for that. I’m glad you said “attention,” because — not to bring politics into it (which I would never, ever do) — it’s kind of crazy that this thing is being played given the current state of affairs in the region. I am just hoping we get some more uninterrupted golf under our belts. Rahm winning in Abu Dhabi and having a legit shot at taking home the Race to Dubai is equal parts hilarious and impressive. I hope he takes it home given his recent financial heartaches in court.
Kalland: Agreed. If we get another tournament completed and someone’s lifting that gigantic Race to Dubai trophy at the end, it’ll feel like a minor miracle.
WTGL kicked off (teed off?) last Sunday with a classic Los Angeles vs. New York rivalry that featured the return of Michelle Wie West against Lydia Ko and Rose Zhang. What are your expectations for WTGL’s inaugural season, and will it ultimately be successful? What would you define as success for the new indoor league?
McDonald: Believe it or not, I was boots on the ground synthetic turf last Sunday. My Steelers were on a bye, so I was hard at work inside the belly of the beast that is the SoFi Center. I couldn’t believe this started on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. Who decided that was a good idea to debut the league in the middle of an NFL Sunday? WTGL has four matches this year scheduled on the ABC family of networks, and all four are going against the NFL. It doesn’t take an expert to know that eyeballs will be elsewhere. My expectations are low, and success might be as simple as somehow introducing one or two new personalities for LPGA fans to latch onto. Is that too harsh?
Kalland: No. That’s probably what the goal should be. Not to get too into the weeds on TV programming, but it is quite common for them to counterprogram the NFL with women’s sports (WNBA, NWSL, women’s college basketball). I presume the assumption is that the Venn diagram with the NFL has the least overlap there.
That said, it does limit your reach to find new fans if your broadcasts are all up against the NFL. The best part of TGL has been getting to see more of the personalities of PGA Tour players: some shining and others … not. I expect WTGL to be the same. If this can create a viral moment or two and let a few personalities shine that fans can latch on to beyond Nelly Korda, that’s probably a win for women’s golf, even if I don’t see this being a real game changer for the sport.
