Jon Rahm's Suspension: Smylie Explains PGA Tour Implications

My question is, and maybe you can help me kind of talk and kind of work through this conversation, is he's technically exempt on the championship series in 2028 due to his win at the Masters in 2023. And I wonder, is there going to be more than a just a year suspension for Jon Rahm? Is there going to be anything else that other than Jon Rahm of like if you're exempt into uh these championship series like it just seems a little bit wrong to me that these guys can can not only just make all the money that they did on LIV and leave the PGA Tour in a vulnerable state but then like somehow come back to like the best of what we have on the PGA Tour um even though they are exempt for it there's going to be some type of of negotiation for their punishment correct like they're not just going to be able to waltz back in even though they just had a year suspension like am i right here and saying this like i i i agree with everything you said here's why i agree with it because i think what the PGA Tour whether it was luck or whether it was very calculated business strategy you know on Brian Rolland's behalf is that what they got to see this past year was the ultimate trial balloon right it was okay we don't actually know what the future of of LIV is back in january or february we know it's on rocky ground we know that all these these offseason signings have slowed but there's still a chance that PIF decides to put more money into a re-sign Bryson at that point in time you know bryson's asking for a 600 million dollar contract it's on the table like they're thinking hey we could really re-up and make this thing go so they put this returning member program on the table for those four guys and only one of them takes it and and and it's important too we talk about all these guys with contracts another reason why it's so important that they can get these releases from LIV is that Rolap said on a number of occasions, we're not going to tamper with the guy that's under contract. Brooks Koepka had gotten out of his contract with LIV by however means he did it so that he was able to be part of this returning member program thing. So Brooks takes the deal. The other three leave it alone, right? Meanwhile, what's happening is the Patrick Reed experiment. And Patrick Reed goes out, wins a couple times in the DP World Tour. and what the feedback you're getting from players you know whether they're being asked about it and and and pre or post round press conferences things like that is that hey you know hey Patrick Reed or love Patrick Reed we know he's a lightning rod but what he's doing he's going out and earning it he's doing it the right way right so I think that when you are you saying are you saying that if you're fine with just the year suspension for Jon Rahm next year but if he goes in and finishes first second or third let's say they're giving three cards in 2028 then you're okay with with no penalty or no fine just the year suspension and and because I mean like Brooks Koepka paid five million dollars to get back to the PGA Tour but but he did it without earning it back like Patrick Reed did and I and I and I again I think there is what we'd have to figure out too is it was a loophole it was a loophole that Patrick Reed figured out but he also resigned his membership so there could be implications there as well of like you know he didn't incur fines that like you know we'd have to go back and look at Rahm and again you know where i i'm not in a great research spot now i i i think to to just complete the way i'm the way i'm thinking about i'm saying i'm i'm not i'm right or wrong but the way i'm thinking about it is they don't have to extend any returning member program part two offer to Jon Rahm because at this point it's like if you want to go do it you serve your year suspension and you go play on the DP World Tour now what i think is interesting is if if they reconfigure the DP World Tour card scenario so let's just say they said all right instead of 10 cards straight to the tour we're going to give five to championship and five to challenger or we're going to give three to championship and three and seven to challenger like wouldn't it be difficult if Jon Rahm finishes first on that list for 2027 to not let him play on the championship series if he went out and he served his year suspension? He played on the D.B. Richfield for a year? I don't disagree with you. I'm just trying to figure out, is there a world in which there's a fine that's paid? Because I just look at Colin Kaepernick He struck the $5 million check to come back and play on the PGA Tour. I know it was in that same season. To not serve a suspension, though. But he was playing on the B2. Like he was basically playing the Challenger Tour all the time.