3 months ago
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Justin Rose has urged Jon Rahm to retain DP World Tour membership to ensure the Spanish LIV golfer is eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup in the United States.
Rahm needs to play three events on the European Tour before the end of the season in November to be available for Luke Donald’s team, that will defend the trophy for Europe at Bethpage in September 2025.
"No matter where the world rankings say he is or the golf that he is competing against, we know what a great player he is," Rose said.
"My point is you want him on the team. There is a pathway for him to play the Ryder Cup if he wants it.
"I think that’s all the DP World Tour can do, and they have their interests to protect, and I still think that it is a doable situation should the player want to choose to do it."
The English golfer was speaking after announcing increased prize money for his Rose Ladies Open, a Ladies European Tour Access event at Brocket Hall which starts on Friday at the Hertfordshire course.
The field includes Sara Byrne, a hero of Great Britain and Ireland’s Curtis Cup team, who has turned pro after going unbeaten in the home team’s thrilling victory at Sunningdale last Sunday.
This week’s field will be competing for £72,000 compared with £59,000 in 2023, the highest purse on the LET Access Series - the feeder circuit that leads to the LET.
"It’s an honour to have Sara here," Rose said. "She’s a bubbly character and plays golf unbelievably well. I think she was eight under in her singles match around the Old.
"I played Sunningdale Old on the Monday after the Curtis Cup - and we played off the same tee markers as they played the day before - and that was no mean feat, playing that well around that golf course."
Rose and his wife Kate have been firm supporters of the women’s game after launching the Rose Ladies Series in the wake of the Covid shutdown in 2021, which severely limited playing opportunities for many of the country’s leading female players.
"It has always been very important for me and Kate to promote women’s golf, to get the narrative around talent that is around here," Rose said. "And more importantly to lead by example and push things as far forward as we can."
Rose says that the prize fund differential between the cash-rich men’s game and female counterparts should be narrowed. "I think that’s a fair assessment," he said.
"I understand there are commercial dynamics. There are a lot of measurables that dictate prize funds, sponsorship and TV viewership."
But Rose estimates that female players are often playing for around a tenth of the value of purses on the men's tours. "I think it’s not good enough," the 44-year-old said.
"The talent deserves more than that. That’s my view on it; the sacrifice, the talent, the stories, the personalities that are out there on the LET tour deserve to have that."
Rose was recently announced as the captain of Great Britain & Ireland for the Team Cup, with a match against Continental Europe to be staged in Abu Dhabi next month.
His appointment is being seen as the first step towards Ryder Cup captaincy, potentially for the 2027 contest in Ireland. "First and foremost I’d love to do the job at some point," he said.
"It is a huge honour - 2027 would certainly be a special Ryder Cup. We all know what a special place Adare Manor is, we all know JP McManus and what his love for the sport is, and how much he has given back to golf.
"Timing the Ryder Cup captaincy is something you don’t have a huge amount of control over, because your opportunity might just happen to come at a certain time.
"In 2027 I hope that I am still a strong contender to be playing in the team. I think front and centre is 2025, and see how I go there."
