“Allow the countries to pick themselves”: Jon Rahm wants Olympic chiefs to make key change after LIV Golf stars snubbed

Jon Rahm has called for a shake-up in the Olympic qualifying criteria after several of his LIV Golf colleagues, including Bryson DeChambeau, were left out of this year’s tournament.

Rahm, 29, will fly the flag for Spain at Le Golf National in Paris as the tournament kicks off on Thursday. He’ll be joined by fellow LIV Golf star David Puig, but many of their peers on the breakaway tour will be forced to sit it out.

DeChambeau, the current US Open champion, is the most high-profile player missing from the action in Paris. The US has dispatched a team of four to the Olympics – Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa – all of whom ended the qualifying period in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

READ: Loyalty Under Scrutiny: Bawling Jon Rahm Not Enough to Clear Doubts as His Loyalty to LIV Golf Remains Under Scrutiny

The OWGR forms the basis of the qualification route to the games, but LIV is not recognised by the body and its players do not earn ranking points for their performances on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Its members have seen their rankings tumble since the breakaway league was launched in 2022, resulting in DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and others missing out on a spot in Paris.

Rahm argues that the decision-making power should be given to the competing nations to choose their players, rather than the OWGR. He also suggested that team golf should be included in future Olympics.

“Allow the countries to pick themselves,” Rahm stated during his pre-tournament press conference. “There needs to be some guidelines, but Team USA basketball has freedom to choose whoever they want. I understand it’s a different circumstance, but I think you need to let each country choose who they want to play, and in the future, I would also like to see some team aspect in the Olympics, as well, right.

“I mean, we are here representing Spain, so I would love to be able to represent Spain, as a partner or somehow, whether as a combined sport or us playing together. That would be extremely nice to share the stage with another player, to do something different, to maybe what we do every other day, right.”

Rahm is heading to Le Golf National brimming with confidence after clinching his first LIV Golf title at the weekend, outlasting Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton and Smith to finish top of the leaderboard at JCB Golf and Country Club in Staffordshire, England. Despite having high hopes of competing for the gold medal, he believes the quality of the event is diminished by the qualifying process.

“You want the best players to be able to participate,” Rahm added. “Any tournament, you want the best players possible to be representing their country. That’s all I can say. I really don’t know how else to frame it. “”Obviously the qualifying criteria might need to change but that is a job for the people that are a lot more knowledgeable on things like that.”