Xander Schauffele reacts to Jon Rahm's LIV Golf exit

Xander Schauffele says he is still unsure how he feels about the prospect of LIV Golf players returning to the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf officials remain confident the league can continue in 2027 despite significant hurdles in getting a reimagined version of the circuit off the ground.

The league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States last month after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) withdrew its multi-billion-dollar backing in March. 

LIV also owes millions of dollars to players.

This week, it emerged that two-time major champion Jon Rahm will leave the league after deeming the proposed terms for LIV Golf 2.0 unacceptable.

His lawyer, John Beck, told the bankruptcy hearing that his management team are in "advanced talks" to finalise a termination of his contract before 15 November.

London-based investment firm BC Partners wants to take LIV Golf forward without PIF and has reportedly secured the possibility of $300m in financing.

But LIV's future hinges on commitments from its roster of players.

Several players are seeking an immediate exit. 

"He's clearly done whatever's best for himself just like all of us," Schauffele told reporters after the third round of the Baycurrent Classic in Japan when asked about Rahm's decision to quit LIV. 

It remains unclear where Rahm will play the majority of his golf in 2027.

The Spaniard turned down the opportunity to rejoin the PGA Tour in January through a returning-member programme that Brooks Koepka took advantage of. 

LIV's poster boy, Bryson DeChambeau, and former Open champion Cameron Smith also declined the offer.

PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp told reporters last month that they have no plans to reopen the programme and would not entertain discussions with LIV Golf players while they remained under contract.

Rahm will be eligible to play on the PGA Tour's proposed Championship Series in 2028 owing to his Masters triumph three years ago, but it remains to be seen whether he will be given the Koepka treatment.

Schauffele suggested he believed the DP World Tour could be Rahm's most likely destination.

"I don't know if the Tour has offered him a spot like they had that window before," Schauffele said.

"He's just doing whatever he thinks is best for himself."

Schauffele is understood to have turned down an offer to join LIV Golf in 2022. 

He has also been outspoken in his criticism of the PGA Tour's handling of the threat posed by the breakaway circuit.

Schauffele called for PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to step down after the announcement of the shock framework agreement with the PIF in June 2023.

"I would be lying if I said that I have a whole lot of trust after what happened," he previously said.

Asked whether he believes there will be a compromise for LIV players returning, Schauffele said he had "no idea".

"There are 225 guys with Tour cards and if you sat down and interviewed all of them, you're going to get probably three or four boxes of how guys feel," he said.

"Some guys don't care, some guys are really ticked off, some guys want them to have a huge fine, some guys would let them back tomorrow.

"Where I stand in those boxes, I don't really know. I'm in the sort of, I try to mind my own business most times."