Jon Rahm says he'd 'most likely' take Koepka's penalties to get back on the PGA Tour

Jon Rahm would accept the same penalties Brooks Koepka took to return to the PGA Tour, if the tour offered them. He just doesn't think it will.

"Most likely, yeah. Why not? Yeah, but it's a big if," Rahm told reporters Tuesday at Yas Links, where he's playing this week's Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship. "I seriously doubt I get offered the same deal that Brooks did. But yeah, if I got offered exactly the same penalties as him, I probably would do it, yes."

It was his first media session since he left LIV Golf and since the birth of his fourth child, Golfweek's Cameron Jourdan reported. Rahm's attorney told LIV's bankruptcy court on Oct. 8 that he would not sign on for LIV 2.0.

Why he walked away

Rahm called his three years at LIV "a positive" and said the team side went well. The new version was the problem. "As much as I liked the project and the idea on, let's say, LIV 1.0, I wasn't thrilled with the changes they were doing to 2.0 and I just wasn't willing to follow that path," he said.

Asked what bothered him, he said there were "too many unknowns" and that the league "seemed like it was going away from team golf and some of the things that made LIV, LIV. It just became more of a regular tour."

Was he frustrated about the money he left behind? "No." The Irish Independent's Brian Keogh puts that figure at an estimated $100 million to $150 million. Golfweek says Rahm earned more than $100 million at LIV, not counting his initial contract.

The Koepka question

Koepka came back to the PGA Tour in January through its returning-member program. Golfweek says his terms included a $5 million payment to charity and no Player Equity Program payouts through 2030. Rahm, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau were offered the same deal and passed.

That offer may be gone. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in September the tour was "not currently contemplating a returning-member program like the one you saw in January."

Rahm said he hasn't spoken with the tour. "I have yet to have a discussion with the PGA Tour to see if there's any path back for next year," he said. He called a one-year suspension his worst case and said that still leaves him "a wonderful tour for a whole year."

A DP World Tour year

He has DP World Tour status and is already working on a 2027 schedule. He expects to play the early Middle East swing ("I most likely would play Dubai through Qatar, or whatever the order is, Bahrain") and said he'd keep playing European events even if he gets back on the PGA Tour.

What's at stake this week

Rahm starts Abu Dhabi 51st in the Race to Dubai, according to the Irish Independent, so he needs a good week to get into the top 50 available players who move on to next week's DP World Tour Championship. With 11 of the top 70 skipping Abu Dhabi, the Independent says his chances of getting there have improved. He admitted the LIV saga has been "noise in your head" and "a distraction for sure."

Round one is Thursday at Yas Links, and Golf Channel has the U.S. broadcast.