Luke Donald Is Relieved That One Major Roadblock Is Cleared for His Ryder Cup Team

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. - Luke Donald expressed relief that Jon Rahm's situation with the DP World Tour has been resolved and that there will be no roadblocks to him competing for Europe at the 2027 Ryder Cup.

Donald, who will captain the side for a third time after two stirring victories, spoke about the situation in advance of this week's PGA Championship, where he will be playing at Aronimink Golf Club on an invite from the PGA of America.

"It's not my job to tell Jon what to do, but obviously very delighted that a resolution has happened and that he's available as someone that can be a part of the Ryder Cup team," Donald said. "Having as many players available to pick from, especially someone like Jon who's obviously proved how valuable he can be in a Ryder Cup. He's played four and obviously two under my captaincy and done extremely well. So to have him available for selection is pretty cool."

Rahm revealed last week that he reached an agreement with the DP World Tour that saw his outstanding fines paid from his time on LIV Golf from 2024–25 and those accrued for three conflicting events this year.

He also accepted a deal with the DP World Tour that will allow him to compete in conflicting events for the rest of this year without needing releases or accruing fines-a deal that was accepted earlier this year by eight other LIV players who compete on the DP World Tour.

Rahm, a two-time major champion, had initially balked at terms that required him to add events to the four-tournament minimum needed to be a member. The DP World Tour announced that he had agreed to play five events this year and thus will be a member in good standing.

Previously, the Spanish golfer had accused the tour of extortion in its stance in dealing with him on the issue.

I think time is certainly on our side," Donald said. "It's 18 months until the Ryder Cup. I was glad an agreement had come to fruition sooner rather than later. I think the longer you leave that, the more onus is on me to potentially help with some of those bridges.

"Last two Ryder Cups, I've had to deal with kind of the world of golf. It's been very different to what we've ever seen in the past. I think there's always going to be people that have different opinions and different viewpoints. But when it comes to the Ryder Cup in the team room, I think they're all pretty aligned.

"It's obviously my job to make sure everyone is aligned. I like to use the phrase ‘even brothers fight sometimes.' But deep down, they love each other, and the mission is pretty clear when we play a Ryder Cup, and that's to win. They understand that putting those feelings, those egos of different personalities, personal things to one side is important if you're going to be successful.

"I don't have any real qualms or issues that the team room won't be unified."

As for how the team will be determined and what LIV Golf's status is going forward with the loss of funding beyond this year from the Public Investment Fund, Donald said that remains unclear. A points system has yet to be put in place for how the six automatic qualifiers will be chosen for the three-day match at Adare Manor in Ireland.

"I think that's the word, isn't it? Uncertainty. We don't really know what's going to happen with LIV," Donald said. "Obviously you have to think about that in terms of qualification criteria. We don't have to announce that 'til sort of late-ish summer, mid to late summer.

"Again, the next few months, we'll just wait and see. I don't try and make decisions on things that are unknown. So I'm going to try and make decisions on things that I know will happen and what we can control.

"I'm not worried about it too much right now. I have a lot of faith in [vice captain[ Edoardo [Molinari] in terms of getting the right qualification criteria, making sure that we get the strongest six. Then you can implement and pick the next six to complement those players."

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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 11:26 AM.