Jon Rahm is one of the best golfers in the world. The Spaniard has 21 professional wins with a U.S. Open and a Masters victory among them. He’s also become the centerpiece and principal figure of the ongoing power struggle in professional golf.

At the forefront of the infighting is the potential Ryder Cup ineligibility looming for Rahm.

When I spoke with assistant Ryder Cup captain Eduardo Molinari back in June, the Italian explained what Rahm must do to remain eligible for the Ryder Cup and added that he fully expected him to do it.

“So, it’s not only down to us, it’s more like, if they want to play, they know that they just need to play four events and not resign the membership and hopefully they will because everyone knows how good Jon and Tyrrell (Hatton) and, even some of the others that [joined LIV] and you want to be able to pick from anyone.

“I think there’s been a lot of discussions going on behind the scenes and conversations and hopefully they will remain members.”

Molinari also added how much he believes the Ryder Cup means to Rahm.

“I think Jon is obviously very, very keen with the, with the Seve and Olazabal legacy to, to keep playing other Ryder cups. Tyrrell is the same. I mean, the thing is, I think the Europeans they really love and enjoy the Ryder Cup. They, they look forward to it every, every two years is like if you ask any one of them, now they’re already thinking about Bethpage, which is why I’m very confident that John and Tyrrell especially will do everything they can to remain members.”

As Molinari alluded to, to maintain his DP World Tour membership, which is a requirement to participate on the European Ryder Cup team, Rahm must play in four DP World Tour events. He’s played in the Paris Olympics, which counts as one, and now has three left to play.

During his pre-tournament press conference at LIV Chicago, Rahm expressed his desire to play in the Spanish Open.

“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande.”

Rahm added that the Spanish Open will count as two DP World Tour events for him, due to the event being his country’s national open.

“The Olympics counts so it’s those three. I don’t know the regulations. I know if you play your country’s Open it counts as two. If you don’t play your country’s Open event you need to play one more, I believe. I could be wrong.”

While Rahm clearly has the desire to play the Spanish Open and also make sure he’s eligible for the Ryder Cup, there are a few issues at play.

The DP World Tour has shown no indication they’ll allow Rahm to play if he doesn’t pay his fines or appeal the sanctions, despite the fact that he entered his name in for the Spanish Open months ago.

“Well, I’m entered into the tournament. We entered a long time ago. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing. I’m not a big fan of the fines. I think I’ve been outspoken about that. I don’t intend to pay the finds, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.”

In his press conference, the 29-year-old shared his belief that the DP World Tour would be doing a disservice to Spanish golf.

“At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play, so yeah, that’s why we’re trying to talk to them and make that happen. I would also love to play the Dunhill. I have a good friend who asked me to play, and Johann (Rupert) has been a great, great ambassador for the game of golf. I would love to be able to play all those events.”

Johann Rupert is a South African businessman who granted Rahm a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship next month, but it appears Rupert will not get his wish if Rahm doesn’t pay his fines. In theory, playing the Dunhill would give Rahm his fourth and final event played to remain eligible for the Ryder Cup if he would be allowed in the Spanish Open.

Rahm also spoke about his desire to play a 5th DP World Tour event, the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.

“Yeah, Sotogrande is the town next to Valderrama…I would go to Madrid, so Open España, Dunhill, week off, Sotogrande, and I want to play all. I think I might be entered into both of them. We entered those events, and I want to play. That’s my intent is to play.”

Aside from the DP World Tour’s insistence on Rahm paying his fines to get into the events, there is a personal issue at play as well. Jon’s wife, Kelly, has had a difficult pregnancy, so it’s been a priority for Rahm to be at home with her as much as possible. He shared some good news on that front while also reiterating that he’d like to be home to support her.

“She’s doing really good. She’s doing really good. There was a dark moment there with the pregnancy. When I say moment, it was every bit of two months, and I feel like we’re coming out of that right now. We’re towards the end. Because of the issues we’ve had, they probably won’t let her go a lot past 38 weeks, but she keeps doing better and better, so they keep changing what her deadline is. I think right now, most likely if the baby doesn’t come early, we might try to induce right after Dallas.

“It could be a case where I go home, deliver the baby, and then fly Tuesday or Wednesday to Madrid. So, I could have a case of flying Thursday morning and teeing off Thursday afternoon, could have a case of flying Wednesday afternoon and teeing off Thursday morning. I’d say right now we have that going on, but if the baby comes early, we’ll see what happens. I probably would still try to go back home and spend some time with them before I’m gone for the other weeks.”

The entire situation represents a significant sequence for the world of golf and is a microcosm of what plagues the professional game at this moment in time. One of the world’s best players wants to play on the DP World Tour and in the Ryder Cup, both of which would undeniably be a positive for professional golf as a whole, but he is unable to due to his association with LIV Golf.

It must also be mentioned that back when Rahm joined LIV, Rory McIlroy, who is arguably the leader of the European Ryder Cup team, insisted that the Spaniard would be at Bethpage Black in 2025, regardless of which tour he plays on.

“Jon is going to be in Bethpage in 2025 so, because of this decision, the European Tour (DP World Tour) are going to have to rewrite the rules for the Ryder Cup eligibility,’’ McIlroy told Sky Sports. “There’s absolutely no question about that. I certainly want Jon Rahm on the next Ryder Cup team.”

When Rahm left for LIV, many people believed it would the chess move that would bring the two sides together for the good of the game. Now, almost a year later, nothing has changed. I feel confident in saying that Rahm’s decision to not pay his fines to the DP World Tour has little to do with the few million he’d have to pay and more to do with the principle that he doesn’t believe he should have to pay them.

On Thursday morning, a DP World Tour spokesperson said Rahm has now appealed his fines, thus making him eligible to play in the Spanish Open.

“Jon Rahm has a pending appeal against sanctions imposed on him and in accordance with the DP World Tour’s Regulations, he is eligible to participate in the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid later this month.”

This last-second development certainly improves the chances of Rahm teeing it up at Bethpage Black for the Europeans, but it feels like a band-aid on a bullet wound for the problems plaguing professional golf as a whole.

Both sides of the “war” going on in professional golf will insist that the player or tour that they support is justified in their actions. There is stubbornness and plenty of ego pushing and pulling both belligerents. While both sides may have valid points and convincing reasoning behind their arguments, it doesn’t change this simple fact: Golf fans are suffering and are fed up with the state of professional golf.