Even a cursory glance towards the scale of this year’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush emphasised why ongoing and occasionally fevered chatter about Turnberry staging the world’s oldest major is futile. Whether the Turnberry owner was Donald Trump or Donald Duck, its lack of adjacent infrastructure makes it unfit for the Open. The Ayrshire venue, lauded again by its owner, Trump, during a visit in recent days, is simply incapable of hosting the Open in its present form.
This need not be an uncomfortable reality for the US president, who can secure at least a portion of the profile and kudos he desires for Turnberry – one of the world’s most outstanding golf courses – from an alternative source. It would, in fact, now be a surprise if Turnberry does not appear on the Scottish Open’s rota at some point soon. Mutual convenience is staring us all in the face if Trump can even temporarily accept a prize which sits in the shadow of the championship he has craved since buying Turnberry in 2014.
