President Donald Trump has been trying to bring The Open Championship to his Turnberry course. In April, Whitehall officials reportedly asked R&A bosses to consider Turnberry as a future site, stating that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport “have been involved in pushing for the Open to return to Trump-owned Turnberry.” However, as per the recent update, the R&A has decided against Trump’s wish and is considering Portmarnock for the 2028 season.

Why? Currently active at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Bryson DeChambeau tried to explain his thoughts following a reporter’s question, “What would be your view of the Open going to his golf course?” DeChambeau replied, “I look at it as a golf course. It’s one of the best golf courses in the world, and I’d love for it to be a part of the rotation.” Although he has never played on Turnberry, DeChambeau says he has “heard so many great things about it.” 

However, would President Donald Trump “try and make it special because of his connection to it?” The Californian candidly replied, “Oh, yeah, I think he would. He’d still probably respect the R&A and what they’re trying to accomplish. I can’t speak on his behalf, but what I can say is knowing him, he’ll do his best of a job as he possibly can, and I know they won’t let him down.” 

The Ailsa Course at Turnberry has a rich history, having hosted The Open Championship four times, with the last event taking place in 2009. However, following President Trump’s acquisition of the course for around $60 million in 2014, The Open Championship has yet to return to Turnberry’s scenic links. The course is a scenic par-71 links course that is 7,489 yards.

DeChambeau’s support, of course, comes in time with R&A’s earlier statement that holding The Open at Turnberry may take attention away from the players themselves, simply because of its association with Donald Trump. In 2021, the former R&A boss, Martin Slumbers, stated, “We will not return until we are convinced the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself, and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.” So, now what’s the holdup?

During his announcement about the same, Mark Darbon, the R&A chief executive, stated, “We love the golf course but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there.” And that is your answer. Turnberry Golf Course is about 30 minutes from Ayr, the nearest town, with limited train access to Girvan, which still requires a 10-minute drive. Notably, during the 2009 Open Championship, the course had a limited capacity of 123,000 spectators for the week. In contrast, Royal Portrush, the current venue, expects around 280,000 spectators.

But Turnberry isn’t the golf course currently out of the R&A’s radar. Muirfield, a historic Scottish links course that has hosted 16 Open Championships, including one as recently as 2013, hasn’t been selected since, with its last event accommodating only 142,000 spectators. It is another golf course that the R&A passed off, aside from Trump’s Turnberry. However, DeChambeau’s support for Donald Trump isn’t surprising considering their friendship.

President Donald Trump and Bryson DeChambeau enjoy a strong friendship

Bryson DeChambeau’s connection with Donald Trump dates back to 2017 when they first met and played golf together at Trump’s National course in Doral, Miami. So, it was no surprise when the President welcomed DeChambeau to one of the biggest moments of his life in 2024: Donald Trump celebrated his victory on November 6, 2024, at the Palm Beach Convention Centre in Florida, and welcomed DeChambeau as one of his guests.

At the event, however, he hilariously called upon golfer Bryson DeChambeau to join him on stage. DeChambeau, the US Open champion, was running late, prompting Trump to joke about his absence. “We have up here today the US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, fantastic. Obviously he hits the ball slightly longer than me! Just a little bit. Bryson DeChambeau is up here. Where is he? What happened to Bryson? Bryson! He’s hitting balls? He’s on the way? Bryson. Oh, look at him. He’s got a great career going. Great US Open, Bryson. That’s a fantastic job,” Trump said.

This wasn’t the first time Trump and DeChambeau have interacted. Four months prior to the election, DeChambeau had invited Trump to participate in his YouTube series “Break 50,” where they attempted to break 50 strokes on the golf course. The video garnered over 12 million views. DeChambeau had initially reached out to both presidential campaigns for the challenge, but Trump was the one who accepted the invitation. So, it is pretty evident that President Donald Trump will have Bryson DeChambeau in his bag, especially when it comes to showing his support!