Lynch: Donald Trump is trying to bully his way to an Open at Turnberry, but he'll be a loser

USA Today

03-05-2025

Lynch: Donald Trump is trying to bully his way to an Open at Turnberry, but he'll be a loser
There was a time when major championship venues were selected largely on the merits of the golf course, but that was back around the time that Jimmy Carter had to place his peanut farm in a blind trust to avoid the appearance of enriching himself off the presidency, both concepts now quaint relics of a bygone era. The criteria for deciding where majors are held now places greater priority on commercial returns and logistics, even among the threadbare seaside towns of the British Isles.
Carnoustie is indisputably among the U.K.'s finest links courses, but it went a quarter-century between hosting Opens for lack of a decent hotel (it still doesn't have one, despite the monstrosity erected by the 18th green). Royal Lytham last had the championship in 2012, and is reworking its layout and addressing neighborhood issues to accommodate the enormous infrastructure that would come with (hopefully) being awarded a 12th Open. Northern Ireland's Royal Portrush was ignored for decades until the whiff of gun smoke faded, but this summer will host its second Open in six years, the first having proved intoxicatingly lucrative to the organizers at the Royal & Ancient.
The most pressing consideration varies by venue for the R&A, but only one criterion really matters for Donald Trump — whatever he wants.
Trump purchased Turnberry in 2014, knowing it was in the R&A's rotation and confident he was also buying the major he has long coveted. But the Open hasn't returned since its fourth staging at the Ayrshire resort, in '09. Last week, the Guardian newspaper reported that Trump has repeatedly asked British officials to lean on the R&A to bring the Open back to Turnberry. Since he treats his own government as a means for graft and settling grievances, it's unsurprising that he treats foreign governments similarly, but his odds of winning this battle are minuscule.
Since Trump's extensive renovation of the Ailsa links has been widely praised, the worthiness of the course is not an impediment. But that's the only winning hand he holds. Logistics are a major strike against Turnberry, which is a 30-minute drive from the nearest town and an hour from any city. 'There are definitely some logistical and commercial challenges that we face around the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure,' said Mark Darbon, the R&A's chief executive.
One figure exposes both the infrastructure shortcomings of Turnberry as an Open venue and the enormous financial hit the R&A would absorb from returning there, which it can ill afford. The last championship held at the remote resort drew 123,000 spectators. By comparison, last year Royal Troon attracted 250,000 while Portrush sold out at 278,000. Darbon knows that remediating Turnberry's issues would take years and untold millions in funding.
'We're doing some feasibility work around what it would look like to return to that venue and the investment that it would require,' he added, which is polite British-speak for 'piss off, pal.'
The problems aren't limited to roads, railways and revenue. There's a reputational risk to the championship that the R&A would be nuts to entertain.
A Turnberry Open would be a farce given the security measures involved in staging a major while the U.S. president is front and center grandstanding, because he ain't staying home. (The year of such an Open is immaterial since Trump has made clear his desire to violate the Constitution's Twenty-Second Amendment and remain in office.) There's also the matter of the 34-times convicted felon having a prior when it comes to golf's biggest tournaments.
The PGA of America stripped Trump of the '22 PGA Championship after his incitement of the Capitol insurrection that left five people dead. Around that time, Darbon's predecessor at the R&A, Martin Slumbers, made clear that the Open wouldn't go to Turnberry 'until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself, and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.'
The focus will never be on the championship, the players and the course as long as Trump's name is above the door, and the R&A knows it. But the Open is Trump's last real shot at a major, and he knows it. The R&A has announced venues only through 2027, whereas PGA Championships are assigned through 2031 and the next available slot for the U.S. Open is 2043. There are nine alternative courses in the Open rotation, with speculation that Portmarnock Golf Club in Dublin could also be added to the list. All present a better case than Turnberry, not least because none is affiliated with a man whose lawless authoritarianism grows ever more brazen.
There may come a day when the 'Champion Golfer of the Year' is again crowned at Turnberry, but Trump being there as host to see it is about as likely as his winning the Claret Jug as a competitor. Granted, he's suspiciously adept at 'winning' championships at his own courses, but things aren't quite as flexible when the R&A is tallying the score.