'Social media and the fans are going to want Jon Rahm to play' - Harrington

Jon Rahm. Picture: LIV Golf

Former skipper Pádraig Harrington feels that Jon Rahm may be hoping fan pressure works in his favour in his standoff with the DP World Tour over the unpaid fines that could threaten his Ryder Cup future.

The Spanish star, who was a member of Harrington’s team at Whistling Straits in 2021, was conspicuous by his absence from a deal announced last Saturday that allows eight LIV players to continue competing as members of the DP World Tour.

The players, who have agreed to certain conditions in return for being granted releases to compete in conflicting events without accruing fines, include Rahm’s Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton, who was a key European player at Bethpage Black last year.

But with Rahm refusing to pay some $3 million in fines for playing conflicting LIV events without a release, risking being ineligible for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, Harrington sees the DP World Tour in a difficult position.

“I don't know the politics of it,” Harrington said at the Aviva Stadium launch of the government’s Global Ireland Sports Leadership Initiative, where he was announced as an ambassador who will help embassies, consulates and state agencies use major sporting events to exercise “soft power”.

“The difficulty right now is, what's the European Tour’s next step? They’ve included these guys. How do they say to those guys, now we're doing something different? I don't know.

“I am not on the ground enough to know. I'm reading your articles to find out what's happening. I don't know if there are other options.

“Was that the last option? There's no way that the captain and the team want to go into a Ryder Cup without Jon Rahm, and maybe he's relying on that, and he can rely on it right now. There's no doubt about that.

“That doesn't mean he can rely on it forever, but he can rely on it right now. As I sit here now and think about it, they’re different times, but the best player in Europe, Seve (Ballesteros), didn't play in the ’81 Ryder Cup.... So there are precedents.

“But it's different times now. Social media and the fans are going to want Jon Rahm to play, and he is relying on that pressure.

“But I don't know, honestly, I'm a complete and total golf nerd sitting on the sideline going, ‘Oh, what does this mean?’ I really am. I'm just a golf punter when it comes to the politics of this right now.”

As one of his players in the losing Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, Harrington admits he’ll always have Rahm’s back.

“I have a very good relationship with Jon Rahm, as I do with all my teammates of 2021,” Harrington said. “He will be forever my teammate, and I will do everything I can to support and help him go forward.

“That relationship would never be broken. So if there's ever anything I can do positively to help Jon Rahm, I would do it.”

As for who will skipper the European and US teams at Adare Manor next year, Harrington believes it would be a better event if Tiger Woods accepted the US captaincy.

The 15-time Major winner said last week that he was unsure if he could do the role justice as he also chairs a committee charged with transforming the PGA Tour schedule.

“I think the Ryder Cup in Adare is going to be a great success,” Harrington said. “Tiger being there would make it even bigger. It's hard to believe that you could make it even bigger and more exciting. It would be a nice one. Let's wait and see.”

As the chances of being recalled as a surprise alternative to Luke Donald should the Englishman decide against taking the European captaincy for a third time, Harrington said: “There's certainly been no talk of it or anything like that.

"I think there's no point in having any talk of it. I think you have to wait and see what Luke wants to do.”

It would be a massive shock if Harrington were offered a second bite of the cherry as captain.

Smiling, he added, “But a lot of people got COVID do-overs, right? Just throwing it out there.”

As for Anthony Kim overcoming drug and alcohol problems to win the LIV Adelaide event recently after 12 years in the wilderness, Harrington was amazed to see him overcome Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau in spectacular fashion.

“It’s just an unbelievable story,” Harrington said. He added: “Even if he never does anything again, it's one of the great comebacks in sport. And he did it in style.

"It wasn't like he beat nobody on the last day, and it wasn't like he fell over the line on the last day. He did it in style... It was a great story and impressive to see.”