SENIOR Whitehall officials are reportedly quizzing top golf bosses whether they can host the 2028 Open championship at Donald Trump’s Turnberry course in a bid to win the US President’s favour.
Trump has previously requested the heads of the R&A, which organises the world’s oldest major golf championship, for his South Ayrshire course to host the prestigious tournament.
Now, UK officials have also asked the championship organisers what the hurdles would be to hosting the 2028 Open at Turnberry, the Guardian has reported.
One source described the talks to the newspaper as direct lobbying from the UK Government.
Meanwhile, others said officials had asked about hypothetical problems with the idea, rather than insisting that it happen.
One person with knowledge of the discussions told the Guardian: “The government is doing everything it can to get close to Trump.
“One concrete thing is that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have been involved in pushing for the Open to return to Trump-owned Turnberry.”
According to the Guardian, two other people briefed on conversations between the US president and Keir Starmer said Trump had asked the Prime Minister multiple times about hosting the Open at Turnberry.
Trump had previously lobbied publicly to host the Open at the South Ayrshire course, which the Trump Organization has owned since 2014, saying in 2023: “Everybody wants to see the Open championship here.”
Last year, the company that operates the course and is run by the US president’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, SLC Turnberry, reported a loss of £1.7 million.
The R&A has a list of around 10 historic courses it would consider for hosting the Open, including famous venues such as St Andrews.
Turnberry is on that list, having hosted the championship in 2009.
However, golf experts have pointed out that the championship has grown exponentially since then, with the 2009 Open attracting 123,000 people, and the event at Troon last year bringing in more than 250,000 golf fans from around the world.
The R&A previously said it would not host the tournament at Turnberry in the wake of the January 6 attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol in 2021.
Last November, the then head of the organisation, said he did not want “media noise” detracting from the game.
However, since then, the R&A has changed leadership with March Darbon, the new chief executive, saying last week he would like to see the championship return to Turnberry “at some point”.
