The PGA of America, which has about 29,000 professionals who mostly teach the game, signed the deal with Trump National in 2014.
It cancelled the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in 2015 at Trump National Los Angeles Golf Club after Trump’s disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants when he announced he was seeking the Republican nomination for president. The event was cancelled for good the following spring.
‘What matters most to our board and leadership is protecting our brand and reputation.’
Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America
The shocking insurrection on Wednesday rattled the country, and in golf circles, attention quickly focused on whether the PGA of America would keep its premier championship — and one of golf’s four major championships — at Trump’s course in 2022.
“Our decision wasn’t about speed and timing,” Waugh said. “What matters most to our board and leadership is protecting our brand and reputation, and the ability for our members to lead the growth of the game, which they do through so many powerful programs in their communities.”
Trump had delivered a speech to his supporters in which he repeatedly made baseless claims the election was stolen from him and urged them to “fight.”
“This is not because of any pressures we feel. We’re not being forced into a decision,” Waugh said. “We had to make a business decision. It’s a perpetual institution. My job is to hand it off better than when I found it. One hundred years from now, we still want to be vibrant.”
He chose not to comment when asked if he expected any legal challenge from the Trump organisation.
The PGA of America, which operates separately from the PGA Tour and its week-to-week tournaments, previously held the Senior PGA Championship at Trump’s course outside Washington in 2017. That was the same year the USGA staged the US Women’s Open at Trump National in Bedminster.
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Trump also owns Turnberry in Scotland, one of the most picturesque links in the British Open rotation most famous for the “Duel in Sun” between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in 1977, and most recently Henrik Stenson beating Phil Mickelson in 2016. The R&A, which determines the British Open rotation, has not returned to Turnberry since Trump took over.
He also owns Trump Doral outside Miami, for years a venerable stop on the PGA Tour schedule and most recently a World Golf Championship site. Trump’s presence made it difficult to find a corporate sponsor, and the tournament moved to Mexico in 2017.
Waugh said the PGA of America already had a team in place in New Jersey to start work on selling the events to the public and local sponsorship. Now it’s about finding a place to play the PGA Championship, which dates to 1916, for next year.
The PGA is at Kiawah Island in South Carolina in May.
“We’ve had a number of places reach out already,” he said. “We think we’ll have a bunch of options.”
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