R&A 'would love' Trump's Turnberry to host Open

New R&A chief executive Mark Darbon says he "would love" Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course to host the Open Championship in the future.

He insisted the main issue is not who owns the course, in this case the president of the United States, but whether the Ayrshire venue and town is equipped to cope with the numbers attracted to such a world-class tournament.

A feasibility survey has now been commissioned on the issue.

BBC Sport has been told that the UK government has asked the R&A about its position on the matter in recent months.

The Open was held at Turnberry's iconic Ailsa Course for the fourth and final time in 2009 - five years before Trump bought the resort - and Darbon pointed out that his governing body is "blessed to have such a wonderful pool of venues that can stage the Open Championship".

"At Turnberry, there are definitely some logistical and commercial challenges that we face around the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure," he said.

"We're doing some feasibility work around what it would look like to return to that venue and the investment that it would require."

Darbon was quizzed about Turnberry at the official launch of this year's Open, which will return to Royal Portrush in July for the first time since 2019 and will be the biggest sporting event ever staged in Northern Ireland.

"The last time we were there, I think we had just over 120,000 people," he said. "We've just announced that this summer we're going to welcome nearly 280,000 people here."

This year's Open is already a sellout, with 278,000 tickets sold and Darbon revealed that there will be some changes from the layout from six years ago and to cope with the 40,000 increase in attendance from their last visit.

Turnberry, meanwhile, has been given £200m of improvements since being bought by Trump in 2014.

"A modern Open Championship is a large-scale event," Darbon added. "What we know for sure is the golf course is brilliant, so at some point we'd love to be back there.

"We consistently work with our venues and their owners and operators to talk about what an Open Championship demands and how we work with them to bring that to life."

Analysis, BBC sports editor Dan Roan

This appears to be a significant shift in attitude by the R&A towards Turnberry's potential hosting of the Open.

In 2021, then-chief executive Martin Slumbers strongly suggested the course would not be restored to the Open rota while its owner Donald Trump was associated with the venue, expressing concerns that the focus would be off the course.

"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," he said.

It was a stance he reiterated as recently as November, after Trump's second election victory, referencing the risk of "media noise" detracting from the golf.

But now, his successor Mark Darbon has said he "would love" Turnberry to host the Open again, and has made clear the concerns are logistical rather than political.

So is this apparent softening in position due to pressure from a British government that may be keen to please a key ally, especially in the wake of Trump's tariff policy and ongoing trade talks between the two countries?

In February, it was reported that White House officials raised the possibility of Turnberry returning as a venue for the Open during Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's visit to Washington. King Charles even referenced the course in a letter inviting the president to a second state visit to the UK.

While the government has not commented, BBC Sport has been told by various senior sources that ministers and their advisers have asked the R&A what its latest thinking is in recent months, and are expected to continue to take a keen interest.

The R&A view this as a genuine inquiry rather than an attempt to exert influence, and maintain that they retain legitimate concerns over the travel infrastructure and hotel capacity around the course. But if these can be overcome, it does seem they are now more open to the possibility of Turnberry hosting golf's oldest championship once again.