Bryson DeChambeau backs Donald Trump's Turnberry for Open return as talks over bringing a major back to iconic course emerge
R&A chiefs revealed earlier this week they held a 'really good discussion' with Trump's family over whether their course could stage another Open.
Chief executive Mark Darbon met with the president's son Eric to talk about the improvements Turnberry would need to host the event for the first time since 2009.
DeChambeau famously played a round with golf-obsessed Trump for the two-time major champion's YouTube channel for a video that racked up 15million views and believes the President would make the tournament special.
'Oh, yeah, I think he would,' said DeChambeau after his incredible round of six-under turned around a horror opening loop yesterday to likely make the cut at Royal Portrush. 'He'd still probably respect the R&A and what they're trying to accomplish.
'I can't speak on his behalf, but what I can say is knowing him, he'll do his best of a job as he possibly can, and I know they won't let him down.
'I look at it as a golf course. It's one of the best golf courses in the world, and I'd love for it to be a part of the rotation, albeit I haven't played it, I've heard so many great things about it, and anytime you get to play a special historical golf course like that, I think it's worthy of it for sure.'
Darbon has not long succeeded previous chief executive Martin Slumbers, who had suggested taking the Open to Turnberry would take the focus away from golf and be too toxic, but has loosened the R&A's stance on the matter.
'I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry, said Darbon. 'We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we're coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we've got a good dialogue with them.'
Reports in February claimed White House officials had asked Prime Minister Kier Starmer about the Open returning to Turnberry during his visit to Washington while King Charles also mentioned the course in a letter inviting Trump on a state visit.
'We've been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry,' said Darbon. 'We love the golf course but we've got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of their setup here and we've got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS NASCAR icon Rex White dies aged 95
Rex White, who was NASCAR's oldest living champion and a 2015 inductee into the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 95. NASCAR and the NASCAR Hall of Fame confirmed White's death on Friday. No additional details were provided. 'Rex epitomized the formative days of NASCAR - a true pioneer whose contributions helped shape the foundation of our sport,' NASCAR chairman Jim France said. 'His hard work, dedication and talent allowed him to make a living doing what he loved most - racing cars. He was the model of consistency - finishing in the top five in nearly half of his races - and dominated the short tracks. 'On behalf of NASCAR and the France family, I want to offer our condolences to the friends and family of Rex White.' White won the 1960 Cup Series title and 28 Cup races in a career that spanned 233 starts across nine seasons. He led the final five laps of the 1958 season opener at Champion Speedway in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to earn his first career victory and scored 13 top-five finishes in 22 starts. White won five more races the next season, but didn't earn his only championship until 1960, when he won six times in 44 starts. He won seven times the next year, when he was runner-up to fellow Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett in the championship standings. White then won eight times in 1962, but finished fifth in the standings as he competed in only 37 of the 53 races that year. White never contested a complete season at a time when NASCAR ran as many as 62 times a year. White notched a career-high six victories at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, where NASCAR this year returned after a lengthy absence. He also won three times at North Wilkesboro Speedway and two times at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Born during the Great Depression and raised in Taylorsville, North Carolina, White suffered from polio as a child and that altered his gait for most of his life. He had an early interest in cars and was working on the family Model T by the time he was 8. He had learned how to drive two years earlier using a neighbors truck. 'I was unaware the car on which I labored represented hope to people around me, frustration to those trying to stop illegal moonshine,' he said. 'I saw automobiles as transportation, not the symbol of an upcoming billion-dollar sport.' White purchased his first car in 1954 when a relative of his wife helped him with the $600 needed to buy a 1937 Ford. He immediately began racing as a means to earn a living. White ran his first race in the Sportsman division at West Lanham Speedway in Maryland. He went on to win the championship in his rookie season of the Sportsman division. He moved up to NASCAR two years later and by the time he won the championship five seasons later, he was named both NASCAR's most popular driver and driver of the year. 'Growing up on a North Carolina farm, Rex familiarized himself with all things mechanical and enjoyed driving anything with wheels,' said Winston Kelly, executive director for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 'Rex was among NASCAR´s pioneers who remained very visible at tracks and industry events for years. He was a dedicated ambassador who enjoyed supporting any event or activity he was requested to participate in. 'NASCAR has lost one of its true pioneers.'
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Sponsors swoop in to net new generation of WNBA fans
INDIANAPOLIS, July 18 (Reuters) - An onslaught of brands has descended on Indianapolis to take advantage of the WNBA's growing popularity, with new sponsors setting up shop for the All-Star weekend to meet a crush of fans. TV viewership and attendance have soared across the WNBA in recent years, buoyed by rising stars like the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark and the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese, and the growth of women's sports around the globe. Fans waited upward of two-and-a-half hours on Friday for a meet-and-greet with the first overall draft pick Paige Bueckers at a booth by sponsor DoorDash (DASH.O), opens new tab at WNBA Live, an event where 25 brands hoped to capture fans' attention and dollars. "It's about time, it's amazing," said Gabby Mendoza, 37, a fan since the league launched in 1997, who flew in from San Antonio, Texas. "Probably the backing of the brands coming through is probably what's helping the exposure." The sprawling ticketed event at the Indiana Convention Center was a far cry from the inaugural WNBA Live in 2022, when only a handful of vendors were to be found, according to fans who spoke to Reuters. The Women's National Basketball Association has 13 teams, with plans to add two more in 2026 in Toronto and Portland. The league recently announced it would add three more expansion franchises by 2030. In this year's All-Star Game, Team Caitlin Clark takes on Team Napheesa Collier. Marrian James, a 56-year-old Las Vegas Aces fan, has been attending All-Star Games since the showcase came to Orlando, Florida, in 2001. For Saturday's All-Star Game in Indianapolis, she shelled out $1,000 for a ticket. "Before, you'd have one or two vendors - we didn't have a whole lot of support," said James, who flew in from Florida for the event. "So now, with all the vendors, you see where the fan base has changed. We have more young people, old people - it doesn't matter, all walks of life are WNBA fans now." A crowd 30 feet (9.1 m) deep waited by a State Farm pavilion for star player Clark to make an appearance on Friday, while fans browsed leather purse tags with team logos inside at fashion designer Coach (TPR.N), opens new tab, one of the league's newly minted sponsors this year. AT&T (T.N), opens new tab, a sponsor since 2019, offered a place for fans to shoot hoops and receive applications of custom WNBA-themed nail art with robotic technology. "This is our biggest WNBA activation, footprint, that we've ever had," said Andrea Wilson, director for sponsorships and experiential marketing at AT&T. "We go bigger and bigger every single year." The 2024 WNBA season attracted record viewership on ESPN (DIS.N), opens new tab platforms, up 170% from 2023, and brands appear to have gotten the message across Indianapolis, where Coach, Nike (NKE.N), opens new tab and Gatorade (PEP.O), opens new tab took out massive advertisements around town. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who attended her first All-Star Game as an assistant in 2002, said the growth of the annual exhibition has created better opportunities for players. "We're finding amazing ways to monetize their brand," said Reeve, who will coach Team Collier on Saturday. "It is a great space that we're in and it was very different than what it was even five years ago."
Metro
25 minutes ago
- Metro
Trump ignores Epstein questions signing Genius Act he says was 'named after me'
President Donald Trump avoided all questions around the ballooning Jeffrey Epstein controversy while signing a cryptocurrency bill he said was named after himself. Trump refused to take questions from reporters before and after signing the Genius Act in the White House on Friday afternoon. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act establishes the first-ever federal rules for stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies linked to the US dollar. 'The Genius Act, they named it after me,' joked Trump. It was his only public event of the day. Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ Or you can submit your videos and pictures here. For more stories like this, check our news page. Follow on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here. MORE: Plane forced to land unexpectedly after passenger tries to open door mid-air MORE: Real life Final Destination after man is sucked inside MRI machine by gold chain MORE: Mystery illness sweeps through cruise ship and leaves 134 passengers throwing up
