Why Donald Trump's return as US President could end golf's civil war

Golf may not be top of Donald Trump’s to-do list in his second stint as the US President, but it’s no secret, of course, that he is passionate about the game. He’d introduced a golf swing to his dance routine in election rallies before even getting a golfer, US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, to join him on stage in Florida at his victory speech in the early hours of Wednesday.

“He’s got a great career going,” said Trump, owner of both Trump Turnberry and Trump International Golf Links in Scotland, of the LIV Golf player, who pipped Rory McIlroy to land his second US Open win at Pinehurst in June, as the 78-year-old, speaking at Palm Beach Convention Centre, celebrated beating Kamala Harris . “Great US Open, Bryson.”

Donald Trump tees of in a LIV Golf event at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey in 2022 watched by Bryson DeChambeau. | Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Trump’s return to the White House comes at a time when it is being claimed that an end to the game’s so-called civil war is close. According to a report in The Sun by respected golf writer David Facey, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to cough $1.5 billion to become part of the game’s ecosystem, getting two seats on the PGA Tour, one of which would be as chairman.

The report has not been corroborated but, according to bunkered.co.uk, PIF chief Yasis Al-Rumayyan and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, met again in Saudi Arabia last week after their round of golf together at Carnoustie last month in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

It seems as though a proper truce on the back of a “framework agreement” that was announced exactly 18 months is  being held up by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which is set to investigate a deal between PIF and the PGA Tour on the basis of anti-competition, but Trump’s return to power could fasttrack matters.

Speaking on Let’s Go! podcast on the eve of the election,  the 78-year-old said: “Well, I’m going to really work on other things, to be honest with you. I think we have much bigger problems than that.  But I do think we should have one tour, and they should have the best players in that tour – meaning you have many tours, but your primary tour.

“Because when Scotty [world No 1 Scottie Scheffler] wins or when they win on the other tour, we have a lot of… there’s a lot of great players. I mean, beyond great. It’s really top, top players on LIV.

“It would be nice if they could all play together. It’s terrible when somebody’s shut out of a major. It’s terrible. But they’re very happy with Saudi. They’re over there and they’re very happy about it. They really are. It’s amazing.

“If you speak to them, they’re happy with their decisions. They made more money than they probably could ever have made. They got checks from, in some cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. So it’s hard to say, gee, ‘I’m going to be happy because I can’t play in a certain location’. That’s not that important.

“But I think it’ll come together. Yeah, I could certainly help, but I could probably get it done. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”

Is that really possible? “He might be able to,” commented Rory McIlroy, speaking as he prepared to tee up in this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the first of two new season-ending Play-Offs on the DP World Tour. “He's got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. We might be able to do something if we can get Musk involved, too.

“Yeah, I think from the outside looking in, it's probably a little less complicated than it actually is. But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He's got a great relationship with golf. He's a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows? But I think as the President of the United States again, he's probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.”

The immediate focus for McIlroy, meanwhile, is securing a sixth Race to Dubai title, which would move him level with Seve Ballesteros and just two behind Colin Montgomerie. “Trying to get to Monty's number or maybe surpass is definitely a goal in the future,” admitted the Northern Irishman. “But, right now, I think I just have to focus on trying to get that sixth one and go from here.”

Rory McIlroy listens to a question during his media conference for this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links | Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

It can be job done before he turns his attention to next week’s DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Though as many as 36 players technically still have a chance of being crowned as European No 1 on Sunday, it requires McIlroy to finish last at Yas Links and last again at Jumeirah Golf Estates next weekend.

Even as he tests out a new golf swing shape for the first time, having been focusing mainly on his backswing after locking himself in a golf simulator rather than being out on either a range or golf course, in the heat of battle, that’s almost certainly not going to happen and, even closest challengers Thriston Lawrence and Rasmus Hojgaard, have their work cut out just trying to stay in the title race going into the season finale. “I know that I can make life a lot easier for myself with a good week this week, so I am fully focussed on that,” insisted the world No 3.

Helped by his fairytale Genesis Scottish Open win in July, Bob MacIntyre heads into this week’s event sitting ninth in on the Race to Dubai points list, with BMW International Open champion Ewen Ferguson, who sits 32nd, also guaranteed to be in the 50-man field for the second leg of the UAE double-header next week.

However, 49th-ranked Connor Syme has work to do over the next four days to take his campaign the full distance and the same goes for Calum Hill and Grant Forrest, who are 53rd and 54th respectively.