The PGA Tour announced in a memo to its membership Monday evening that world No. 3 Jon Rahm has officially been suspended and will no longer be able to play in PGA Tour events. Following the announcement of his decision to leave for LIV Golf, Rahm voiced his desire to still be able to play select events on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
The PGA Tour shutting that talk down means the Spaniard will not be defending his crowns at The Sentry, The American Express and the Genesis Invitational.
"In accordance with the PGA Tour Tournament Regulations, Jon Rahm has been notified that he is suspended and no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play due to his association with a series of unauthorized tournaments," a memo obtained by Monday Q Info read.
"This has resulted in adjustments to both the 2022-2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs & Eligibility Points List through the Playoffs and through the FedEx Cup Fall. Should any additional changes occur, the FedEx Cup Playoffs & Eligibility Points List will continue to update through the conclusion of the 2023 calendar year with final eligibility for the 2024 season being set on December 31, 2023."
Rahm finished tied for 18th in the 2023 FedEx Cup, meaning those below him will move up one place in the rankings. This is especially important when considering the top 50 in the FedEx Cup receive invitations into the signatures events in 2024.
As a result of this, Mackenzie Hughes moves up to No. 50 and will play in all signature events. Alex Smalley moves up to No. 60 as the 10th-ranked player in the FedEx Cup Fall and will receive invitations into the first two signature events at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Perhaps even more important is Carl Yuan moving to No. 125 and retaining full-time status, plus Paul Haley moving to No. 150 and receiving conditional status.
The good news stops there for those outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup as the PGA Tour also announced plans to keep the 2024 Schedule Model. Under this plan, the signature events receive an elevated amount of FedEx Cup points.
An unidentified group of disgruntled tour members sent a petition around the circuit during the first week of December looking for support to change the FedEx Cup points allocation in signature events. This request has been denied.
"Over the course of last winter, considerable effort was given to the creation of the 2024 Schedule Model, including the revised points system," the memo read. "Numerous scenarios were considered, and the chosen version was the result of significant modeling in an effort to retain the characteristics of the existing system given the changes to the 2024 schedule. Having performed this work, we believe the model approved by the board is the best model to achieve this goal."
