Donald Trump: Presidency would kill my game but be good for golf
Is Donald Trump going to be the president of the United States? He might be, and that's going to be a good thing for golf, he says.
By
Kyle Porter
•
2 min read
It was difficult to miss Donald Trump at the Cadillac Championship last week. The Doral owner landed on his course (in the middle of a fairway) in a helicopter, shook hands with Rory McIlroy and talked with the golf media about what a potential presidency would mean for the sport we all love.
“It would kill my game but it would be good for golf,” Trump told Golf Channel. “It won’t help my game because I’ll be working, I’ll get to play.”
As for where he stands with the PGA Tour, R&A and other organizations tied to his future as a golf course owner (Trump owns Doral as well as Turnberry which is the potential site for future British Opens).
“My relationship [with golf’s ruling bodies] is very good, I’m also the frontrunner [for the GOP nomination],” Trump told Golf Channel. “Being the frontrunner, people like you more than if you were No. 12.”
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem used some very vague language when talking Trump.
"The only thing we commented on was the fact that he intimated that we -- if you read the language, made it sound like we just broadly supported anything he says on an issue or a criticism or whatever, at a point in time when there was a fair amount, and I guess there still is, back and forth on some of the things that he points out," said Finchem.
I think he means that the PGA Tour is not unilaterally on board with anything Trump says. Especially when he says stuff like "my relationship [with golf's ruling bodies] is very good."
Even more specifically, Trump noted last year that the "golf world" supported him in some of his comments on Mexicans. Which they pretty clearly did not.
At the crux of all of this is the intrigue over whether the PGA Tour will continue on at Doral. There is no sponsor currently for the 2017 WGC event here even though Finchem seems confident he can get one.
"I think at this moment, what we're focused on is getting our arms around how we performed, what the future is of the tournament as best we can see it from the standpoint of delivering to the community, making sure of that; and then meanwhile working on sponsorship and it all needs to come together," said Finchem.
Trump's closing argument was compelling.
“This is the best course -- probably the best tournament course in the country in terms of everything, with the people, the size of it, even the fact that we have four courses that you can use for other things,” Trump told Golfweek.
The waiting game begins.
