R&A chief: Trump's Turnberry is not out of the British Open rotation
Let the R&A be clear: Donald Trump's Turnberry is not out of the British Open rotation.
Meeting with reporters on Monday, R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said the Scottish resort, which Trump bought in 2014 for $55 million, has not been excluded from hosting future Opens despite the Republican presidential frontrunner's suggestion that Muslims should be temporarily banned from entering the United States.
“That pool has not changed," Slumbers said. "Turnberry is still part of that pool of courses.”
However, Slumbers said the Ailsa Course, which is being renovated as part of Trump's promised $285 million investment in the resort, will not host the game's oldest major before 2022.
“We have announced venues out to 2019,” Slumbers said, according to Golfweek. “We are in advanced negotiations around 2020 and 2021, one of which will be in England because we like to get a balance between English courses and Scottish courses.
“At no point during those discussions has Turnberry been part of that, so that’s where we are at the moment, and 2022 and beyond is something we don’t have to think about for a few years."
Turnberry is one of 10 courses in the current Open rotation. It last hosted the championship for the fourth time in 2009, when Stewart Cink defeated then-59-year-old Tom Watson in a four-hole playoff.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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