Taylor Zarzour believes that Jon Rahm would be able to convince the PGA Tour to let him back for 2027, but urged Brian Rolapp to force him to spend next season on the DP World Tour.

Despite confirming that he has left LIV Golf, Rahm’s future remains uncertain. As things stand, he looks set to play on the DP World Tour next year while he serves a suspension from the PGA Tour.

Of course, the PGA Tour did introduce the Returning Member Program earlier this year to enable Brooks Koepka to come back following his own departure from LIV.

The offer was extended to Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith, and Jon Rahm. However, the trio ended up staying put. And more recently, Brian Rolapp has suggested that the PGA Tour has no plans to open up that pathway again.

The PGA Tour has been told to force Jon Rahm to spend next year on the DP World Tour

There will be many who believe that the PGA Tour should allow Rahm to return immediately. He won his second major championship in 2023 and is arguably the only player who could rival Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy over an extended period.

However, speaking on 5 Clubs on Wednesday, Zarzour suggested that the PGA Tour should resist the temptation to bring Rahm back immediately.

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“I think it’s up to him. I think if he goes to Ponte Vedra and sits down with Brian Rolapp and he shows that he absolutely has to be on the PGA Tour in 2027, I would imagine they might carve out a possible path for him. It probably would be even more penal than what Brooks Koepka had this past year. But I almost hope he doesn’t do that,” he said.

“I almost hope that the PGA Tour hopes he doesn’t do that. And the reason I say that is because I would love to see the PGA Tour say, you know what guys, we’re not going to do that in 2027, we have a partnership with the DP World Tour. They have an opportunity to have the best year they’ve ever had in terms of fields, in a Ryder Cup year, let’s throw a bone to our partners on the DP World Tour and let Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, all these studs that have come over from LIV, let’s let them play on the DP World Tour and they’ll work their way back to the PGA Tour once we’ve established the new two levels of it in 2028.

“This is the ultimate bridge year. The ratings on the PGA Tour are great. I’m not saying you don’t want Jon Rahm long term. You do, but for one year, I think the PGA Tour should say, you know what, go prove yourself on the DP World Tour. I think the partnership they have with that circuit would really appreciate that.”

How close Jon Rahm came to signing up for the Returning Member Program

It was a boost for LIV Golf when Rahm, DeChambeau, and Smith all confirmed that they would not be leaving earlier this season.

However, given how LIV operated, it was difficult to not wonder just what the players really thought about the prospect of heading straight back to the PGA Tour.

And according to journalist Matt Vincenzi, who worked with LIV for some time, the Spaniard did at least enquire about how easy it would be to remove himself from his contract.

“Going back to the original Returning Member Program, I remember being in the room at LIV when that was going on. It was known for a while that Brooks wasn’t happy. He was b——- about everything, he didn’t want to be there, he was done. He only had one year left on his deal. It made sense for both sides to come to an agreement to let him move on, and I think it was good for LIV’s reputation as well. Hey, if a guy wants to leave, we don’t want to force him to be here,” he said.

“Now when it comes to Rahm, I don’t think Rahm at that point was completely unhappy, but I do think he asked, ‘what would it look like if I wanted to go back?’ And I’m pretty sure he was told ‘that ain’t happening’. He had three years and $150 million on his deal. That’s different than Brooks.”

With LIV Golf’s future looking bleaker than ever, there is even less reason for the PGA Tour to force Rahm to spend a year on the DP World Tour.

Of course, they need to consider what the members want. But Rahm is someone most fans want to see up against the best.

If this really is the end of LIV Golf, then perhaps Rahm’s immediate return to the PGA Tour has just become even more likely.