Trump Turnberry decision up to The Open organisers says Downing Street as R&A issue statement

Donald Trump’s bid to host The Open at Turnberry in 2028 is unlikely to have been boosted by the US President reportedly making repeated requests to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

According to The Guardian, senior Whitehall officials have been in touch with The R&A about the possibility of the Claret Jug event returning to Turnberry, where it was last staged in 2009.

The report has come in the wake of Mark Darbon, The R&A’s chief executive, admitting last week that he would “love to see” The Open back at the Turnberry venue, which has been owned by Trump since 2014, at “some point”.

US President Donald Trump plays the Ailsa Course at Turnberry during a visit in 2023 | Robert Perry/Getty Images

But, while the Prime Minister’s official spokesman did not deny that Whitehall officials had been in contact with The R&A about hosting the tournament at Trump Turnberry, he also pointed out that it was independent of Government.

The spokesman said: “I wouldn’t get into specific conversations, but it’s for sporting bodies to make decisions on tournament venues, not the Government. Obviously the Government is in regular contact with sporting bodies on tournaments in the usual way but not beyond that.”

He added: “It’s clearly right and proper and usual for Government to engage with organisers of major sporting events as part of the business of Government, but, in terms of decisions around tournament hosting venues, that is for the relevant sporting bodies to take decisions on.”

Asked whether Mr Trump had raised using Turnberry, the spokesman said: “I’m not going to go beyond the readouts that you’ve got on their conversations. But the point is that decisions on tournament venues are rightly a matter for the relevant sporting bodies.”

This year’s 153rd Open is being held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland before the 2026 and 2027 editions take place at Royal Birkdale and St Andrews respectively. It is believed that no decision has been made behind closed doors at the St Andrews-based organisation about the 2028 venue.

Responding to The Guardian report, a spokesman for The R&A said: “We regularly engage with Government and local government regarding venues. We have explained the logistical challenges around Turnberry to the Government and they are aware of the position.”

Speaking at Royal Portrush last Tuesday, Darbon talked openly about the situation at Turnberry, where 120,000 fans were in attendance in 2009 while this year’s event at Portrush will host 278,000 spectators.

“We want The Open to be genuinely open and accessible,” he said. “We want to tell brilliant stories from what we think is a wonderful championship. Turnberry is a wonderful golf course and I think some of the recent improvements there have made it even better.

“It's a course that we'd love to return to at some point. Given the scale of a modern Open, we have to be really thoughtful about some of the logistical and commercial challenges and opportunities that come with staging an event like this.

“Turnberry is a brilliant golf course and a wonderful place to tell stories about our game. Where we have some challenges is around the logistical and commercial challenges. I think the last time we were there in 2009, we had just over 120,000 people and we're going to have close to 280,000 here this summer.

“That's really important for us because not only do we want to showcase this wonderful championship to as many people as possible, but it's important for us in terms of our commercial model because everything that we generate from The Open, we then reinvest back into the game all around the world. So we've got a few challenges at Turnberry.

“The road, rail and accommodation infrastructure presents some challenges if we wish to scale our operation there. But we've got a good dialogue with the ownership group and we'll continue to look at feasibility as we move forward. We'd love to return at some stage.”

Asked about the Trump factor bearing in mind he turned the 2015 AIG Women’s Open into a circus by turning up during it when he was running for the US Presidency first time around, he added: “Of course, when it comes to a championship like this, we also want the focus to be on the golf and so that's a factor, too.”