Jon Rahm believes his ongoing dispute with the DP World Tour will all be sorted out in time for him to return to action later this year - which leaves him confident he'll be playing at next year's Ryder Cup.
Rahm was quizzed about the saga at his pre-tournament press conference for The Masters at Augusta National - although he was keen to point out he didn't think right now was the right time to discuss it.
The Spaniard recently dropped his long-running appeal against the fines imposed by the DP World Tour - but there still seemed to be no end in sight to the impasse with Rahm unwilling to play extra tournaments in some form of punishment for joining LIV Golf.
That left his Ryder Cup participation for the 2027 event at Adare Manor in serious doubt, but the 2023 Masters champion seemed extremely calm about the situation when asked at Augusta.
"Like I've said the last few interviews, I'm going to keep talking with the DP World Tour and trying to figure out a solution that works best," said Rahm, who sounded like both parties are working together on finding a solution rather than against each other.
"I didn't think that going the legal route and going to court was good for anybody, so I have faith in us and the DP World Tour that we're going to find a good solution for both of us."
Eight LIV Golf players have signed a deal to return to the DP World Tour but Rahm has so-far refused to follow suit, being unhappy at being told he must play six events on the tour instead of his usual four.
Rahm accused the DP World Tour of "extorting players" by making them play extra events, and does not want to budge on his offer to continuing playing his four tournaments while also paying off his fines.
He insists he's already made plenty of concessions to try and come to an agreement, and although the two parties may seem far apart on the outside, Rahm seems pretty confident a solution will be found in order for him to return to the DP World Tour later this year.
"We keep talking to them and we continue to negotiate," Rahm added. "I have given in quite a bit on a few things, which I talked about in my last press conference.
"I'm not planning to play until September so that's a bit of a positive. I do intend to continue supporting the DP World Tour.
"But we're going to work it out. It's going to work out. Right now the DP World Tour is doing what they need to do and following the channels they need to follow but I'm confident this will be sorted out before I tee it up in September."
Rahm has previously been adamant that he wouldn't change his stance on the deal, but his tone at Augusta was far more upbeat about the situation.
There's obviously a decent line of communication between the parties despite this saga now dragging on for so long, and if Rahm's attitude is anything to go by then Luke Donald should not be too worried as it seems he'll have his Spanish star available for Adare Manor and his bid for a hat-trick.
