Jon Rahm coy on suggestions Luke Donald has given him a Ryder Cup guarantee

Jon Rahm remained tight-lipped when asked if Luke Donald has given him guarantees over his Ryder Cup place.

The LIV Golf star has limited chances to qualify for Team Europe’s defence at Bethpage Black, making this week’s PGA Championship even more important.

Heading into a Major week in a Ryder Cup year, Jon Rahm has more pressure on his shoulders than most.

The Spaniard arrives at Quail Hollow knowing that victory at this week’s PGA Championship would not only put him just an Open away from the career Grand Slam he craves, but guarantee he’d be part of Luke Donald’s team for the biennial match in New York in September.

Rahm, a key figure in the past three Ryder Cup teams, moved to LIV Golf a little more than two months after playing a key role in Europe winning back the trophy in a dominant display in Rome. The controversial big-money move not only saw the former World No.1 give up his playing rights on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour but also lose his right to play in the Ryder Cup over his refusal to pay fines following his defection.

However, he appealed the outstanding fines last year, reopening opportunities on the European circuit, and, with his hearing not expected to happen until after September’s match, he can play if he qualifies or is picked.

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With limited opportunities to play on the DP World Tour, Rahm is relying on performing well in the majors and on his occasional regular event starts if he isn’t going to need Donald to give him the nod once qualifying finishes at The British Masters in August.

As it stands, Rahm is 29^th in the qualification standings, behind Dan Bradbury, John Parry, Paul Waring and Angel Hidalgo Portillo, among others, with only six automatic spots available. As he did in 2023, Donald will then choose the remaining six players to make up his team as Europe looks for a first victory on American soil since the epic comeback at Medinah in 2012.

But has Rahm received any guarantee that he’ll be part of the team from the captain?

“That’s a question for Luke,” the 30-year-old said, coyly, ahead of the year’s second men’s major. “It’s his team. Hopefully I can qualify, and we don’t have to question it. I would like to think that personally I am (in the team), but it’s not up to me.”

Pushed further on whether the Englishman has told Rahm he will be at Bethpage, he remained tight-lipped.

“You’d have to ask Luke that question,” he reiterated. “It’s not up to me to say. I’m not going to say anything about that, no. Again, that’s a question for Luke, the captain.”

Rahm’s been in excellent form since joining the Saudi-backed Tour to captain Legion XIII in a deal that shocked his fellow pros, media and the sports’ fans alike.

He won the 2024 individual title and is third in the standings through seven events in 2025, though he’s yet to win a tournament this year – a T2 in the season-opener in Riyadh his best result.

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Rahm hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 in a LIV event in 19 appearances and won both the UK and Chicago events last year on his way to the overall crown. He heads to Charlotte as one of the favorites to lift the Wanamaker trophy.

“Feeling good. Feeling very good,” he smiled. “I’ve been playing good all year. Maybe not as great as I would like. I feel like there’s some avoidable mistakes out there. But if you keep knocking out top 10s not having your best, I think it’s still pretty good. I can see my game going towards those improvements, so very hopeful. It’s a great test of golf and a really fun one as well.”

His form outside of LIV stuttered after his move with a T45 and missed cut at last year’s Masters and PGA Championship respectively. A T7 at The Open at Royal Troon proved he can still compete over 72 holes and, barring a missed cut at the Dubai Desert Classic, his last four results read 2-T7-6-T14. He also finished T5 finish at the Olympics in Paris.

While Rahm wouldn’t confirm it, with that run of form, it’s almost unthinkable that Luke Donald hasn’t given his big-hitting star some guarantees. And with the captain also in the field for this week’s event, there should be plenty of opportunity for us and Rahm to get an answer.

Rahm will also hope to find the answer to playing well in this major. In eight starts, he has just one top-five, finishing T4 in 2018. He missed the cut last year and finished T50 and T48 in the two tournaments prior.

Jon Rahm’s PGA Championship record

2017: T58
2018: T4
2019: CUT
2020: T13
2021: T8
2022: T48
2023: T50
2024: CUT

“I’m aware it’s been probably the one I haven’t been my best at,” he said. “I think my best finish was Bellerive. It’s possibly because of the versatility and variability of this event. When you go to Augusta, you know what you’re getting. Same course every year too. The U.S. Open, nine out of ten times, you know what you’re getting depending on weather. Same with The Open, right? It will be firmer or less, but you know what you’re getting.

“It’s this championship that we change venues and drastically change the way we set it up, like the way a Southern Hills might play to the way this week might play to the way a Bethpage might play. They’re all drastically different. So it’s quite possibly the difference, which is more about, okay, your game needs to be a very high level as opposed to possibly the other three that you can adjust a little bit more knowing what’s coming. At that point, that’s a bit of speculation. I think it’s more coincidence that I haven’t played good.”

If he can get the job done come Sunday evening, a Ryder Cup spot will be no coincidence.