'They Want The Open To Go Back' - Donald Trump On Turnberry Return

The former US president says the R&A want to bring The Open Championship back to Turnberry

Donald Trump with Brooks Koepka at LIV Golf
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Paul Higham
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Donald Trump claims the R&A are keen to take The Open Championship back to his Turnberry course for the first time since 2009.

Stuart Cink’s memorable victory over Tom Watson was the last time the Claret Jug was contested at the Ailsa Course before the R&A removed Turnberry from the rota days after the US Capitol riots in January 2021.

Former US president Trump has now claimed that organisers now want to bring The Open back to the Ayrshire course he bought back in 2014.

Trump made the claim when speaking at his own Trump Doral resort in Miami, after playing in the pro-am of the LIV Golf Team Championship.

"They want The Open to go back,” Trump told reporters after his round. "I can tell you they want to come back.

"It is rated the number one course in Europe now. We did a big surgery on Turnberry and it has gotten great reviews, even from people who hate me."

The Ailsa Course at Turnberry was rated number four in our latest Top 100 golf courses in the UK & Ireland list.

“Everybody wants Turnberry but we are being a little bit careful with Turnberry. The Open wants to come back. I think this (LIV Golf dispute) will have to be sorted out first.”

The R&A are yet to comment on Trump’s claims, but chief executive Martin Slumbers previously said at the time that The Open would not return to Turnberry “until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself.”

Turnberry

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The 76-year-old Trump also added that he wanted to stage a European Legends Tour event at his other Scottish venue in Aberdeen, telling the BBC: "We want to have the PGA Seniors event, so we may do it. We're talking about it.”

And, of course, Trump had a word about Doral, which has also been stripped of hosting PGA Tour events – almost inevitably insisting that the Tour wants to return to his venue, although “it doesn’t need it because it is doing so well."

Trump added: “It has been a great success from day one. The Tour wants to be here badly. The players are in love with this place, they always have been.”

We’ll await any possible responses from the R&A and PGA Tour.

Paul Higham
Paul Higham
Contributor

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website.  Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush. 

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