Sunday night, the PGA of America announced that it had stripped Trump National Bedminster golf course of the 2022 PGA Championship. The Trump Organization and the PGA had inked a deal in 2014, but the Capitol riot last week forced the change and prompted a response from the president. Donald Trump is reportedly “gutted” by the news.
Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times, said that a “lot has happened” in the past week, including Trump losing his Twitter account and impeachment coming up once again due to the pro-Trump mob storming the Capitol. She reported that he is angry about the impeachment. However, she also said that his “reaction to the PGA decision was [a] different order of magnitude.”
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The PGA of America said to the Associated Press on Sunday that it found itself “in a political situation not of our making” following the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday. PGA CEO Seth Waugh explained that holding the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster could have caused irreparable damage to the members, the game and the brand. He called leaving the golf course and looking for another host the only course of action.
“This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement,” the Trump Organization said in a statement following Sunday’s announcement. “As an organization we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. We will continue to promote the game of golf on every level and remain focused on operating the finest golf courses anywhere in the world.”
Sunday’s announcement is not the first time that the PGA of America has moved a tournament from a Trump-owned golf course. The organization previously moved a PGA Tour event from The ‘Blue Monster’ course at Miami’s Doral Resort, which Trump bought in 2012, after his 2016 presidential campaign. Similarly, on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast, Turnberry has not hosted an Open Championship event since Trump bought it in 2014.
According to the AP, the PGA canceled the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in 2015, which was set to take place at Trump National Los Angeles Golf Club. The reason was “Trump’s disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants,” which he made when announcing his intention to secure the Republican nomination for president. The PGA of America made the decision the following spring to cancel the event for good.
“Our decision wasn’t about speed and timing,” Waugh told the AP. “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.”
