Jon Rahm Praises Rory McIlroy’s Role Amid DP World Tour Concerns

Jon Rahm doesn’t need a spreadsheet to explain why he thinks the DP World Tour will be fine. He just needs one name.

Speaking ahead of LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf & Country Club, Rahm was asked to react to a warning from his countryman Pablo Larrazábal, who argued that the DP World Tour is in genuine trouble due to the Strategic Alliance, which automatically awards PGA Tour cards to Europe’s top 10 players each season.

“As far as what Pablo said, I don’t know enough to give you an answer,” Rahm said on that.

Rahm wouldn’t go that far — but he made it clear that as long as Rory McIlroy keeps showing up, the DP World Tour has something no rule change can replace.

“I think while the DP World Tour has the figure of somebody like Rory where he’s devoting so much of his time to play the DP World Tour, and right now he is undoubtedly the most famous golfer on the planet and the most influential, I think they’re always going to be in good position by somebody like him supporting the tour,” he added during the same interview, per GolfMagic.

McIlroy does not just talk about supporting the DP World Tour. He builds his schedule around it. Even after becoming one of the biggest stars on the PGA Tour, he never left the European circuit behind.

McIlroy opened his 2026 season on the DP World Tour, playing the Dubai Invitational and Hero Dubai Desert Classic before ever teeing it up on the PGA Tour. He’s a seven-time Race to Dubai champion, including four in a row, and he returns each September for the Amgen Irish Open.

Close friends like Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood also split their time between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour instead of moving to the United States full-time.

It’s part of why Rahm sees McIlroy’s example as bigger than one man’s calendar.

Rahm’s words carry extra weight because his own relationship with the DP World Tour only recently got back on track. Earlier this season, he settled the fines tied to his LIV Golf appearances and reached an agreement that restored his eligibility for Europe’s Ryder Cup team in 2027 at Adare Manor.

Meanwhile, Rahm is Not Blind to the Challenges the DP World Tour Faces

Larrazábal, a nine-time DP World Tour winner, said the tour is in the weakest spot he’s seen in nearly two decades. He pointed to the Strategic Alliance struck between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour: each season, the top 10 non-exempt players in the Race to Dubai standings earn PGA Tour cards for the following year.

Rahm didn’t pretend to have all the answers, but he was honest about the impact.

“I don’t think it’s great for the tour,” he said, per GolfMagic.

“As great as it is for the players, to lose your 10 best players of the year that weren’t already PGA Tour members to the PGA Tour can be a little challenging, but it’s a great pathway for players to get to the tour they desire to play in.”

It’s a pathway players want. But it’s the one that steadily drains the European circuit of its best young talent. Names like Marco Penge, Alex Norén and the Højgaard twins have all used it to head west, thinning out DP World Tour fields.