Rumour: Major update in Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton’s LIV Golf sanctions appeal

Eddie Pepperell has suggested that the long-awaited appeal involving LIV Golf stars Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will finally be heard by April next year — a development that could have major consequences for the pair’s futures on the DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup.

Rahm, 31, and Hatton, 34, lodged their appeals in late summer 2024 after being sanctioned by the DP World Tour for competing in LIV Golf events without the required releases. 

While earlier defectors such as Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson opted to resign their memberships amid similar punishments, Rahm and Hatton chose to remain on the DP World Tour in order to stay eligible for Ryder Cup selection.

The decision paid off in the short term. The Legion XIII teammates made Luke Donald’s side for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black and delivered once again, with Hatton earning 3.5 points and Rahm 3 as Europe clinched a historic 15–13 away victory — their first on U.S. soil since Medinah in 2012.

But with the Ryder Cup now behind them, attention across the Tours has swung back to the unresolved appeals, lodged in August and September of 2024 and still without public update. 

To date, every prior appeal against the DP World Tour’s sanctions has been unsuccessful, leaving many wondering if Rahm and Hatton face a similar outcome.

The DP World Tour Tour itself has remained silent on the timeline. However, speaking on The Chipping Forecast ahead of this week’s Crown Australian Open, Pepperell, 34, revealed he has heard fresh whispers regarding the impending ruling.

“I’ve heard rumours that the case is going to be heard by April, the case that we talk about with Rahm and Hatton and all of these guys,” he said.

“So, by the end of April it may be the case that the tour will have some clarity on that. And if indeed the ruling goes in the tour’s favour, as it did a few years ago, then these guys will very likely not be playing on the DP World Tour for much longer.”

An outcome in favour of the Tour would not only affect Rahm and Hatton. Several LIV Golf players still retain DP World Tour membership, including David Puig, who won last week’s BMW Australian PGA Championship.

Rahm, meanwhile, has previously made his stance clear. Speaking at the BMW PGA at Wentworth in September, the former World No. 1 said he had no intention of paying any fines should they be upheld — admitting he had “forgotten” about the appeal altogether.

Pepperell enters this week buoyed by his own resurgence. 

The 34-year-old dramatically regained his DP World Tour card for 2026 last month after birdieing his final four holes at Q-School to sneak into the top-20. 

The popular Englishman opened the new season with a T56 finish at the BMW Australian PGA and now stays in the country for the Crown Australian Open at Royal Melbourne, where Rory McIlroy returns as the hot favourite in his first appearance Down Under since 2014.

With the DP World Tour tight-lipped and pressure mounting on all sides, the golf world now waits to see whether April will bring long-overdue clarity — or yet another twist — in one of the sport’s most closely watched disputes.