The R&A has "privately decided" that Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland – owned by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – will be removed from the British Open rota.
A report in the Independent on Sunday says that the governing body of the British Open has decided to distance itself from Trump after the string of controversial remarks he has made in his campaign.
In June Mr Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and called for a wall to be built along the United States-Mexico border.
And his recent comments about banning all Muslims from entering the US looks to have been the final straw.
Trump purchased Turnberry in 2014, rebranding it Trump Turnberry. The club’s Ailsa course has hosted the British Open on four occasions, most recently in 2009, when Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson in a playoff. Earlier this year, Trump announced a plan to make significant changes to the golf course, most notably changing the ninth hole to a par 3 featuring the property’s lighthouse.
This is not the first time Trump’s political stances have potentially cost him an event. Trump and the PGA of America “mutually agreed” not to host this year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Los Angeles following his initial comments on Mexican immigration. Trump said the move would give him an opportunity to renovate the golf course. The event was ultimately cancelled.
Last Friday, the PGA Tour released a statement that it will consider moving the WGC-Cadillac Championship away from Trump Doral, which has hosted a Tour event every year since 1962.
Turnberry most recently hosted the RICOH Women’s British Open this past summer, with LPGA head Mike Whan stating shortly before the tournament that he would prefer the event not be played there, but that the LPGA was logistically unable to move the championship with so little time.
Trump himself was present at the event.
Current major championships still scheduled for Trump golf courses include the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open and 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey and the 2017 Senior PGA at Trump National Washington.
Last week Trump’s name and image disappeared from a Dubai golf and housing development.
The Damac Properties’ Akoya development had included Trump’s name on a wall at the entrance but the letters were seen lying in the sand at the foot of the wall on Friday.
A billboard showing Trump golfing as well as a picture of his daughter Ivanka had also been taken down.
