PGA right to back off Trump course
PALM BEACH, Fla. – The PGA of America has made the right choice in distancing itself from a president whose actions and words incited one of the ugliest days in our country’s history.
Now it is time for those who play the sport that organization promotes and supports also to condemn those acts by outgoing President Donald Trump that led to the United States Capitol being stormed last Wednesday and five people dying, including a law enforcement officer who was beaten by the mob.
The board of directors of the PGA of America, which is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, announced late Sunday it is moving the 2022 PGA Championship out of Trump’s property in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Jim Richerson, PGA of America president, said in a statement that hosting the PGA Championship would be “detrimental to the PGA of America brand and would put at risk the PGA’s ability to deliver on many programs and sustain the longevity of our mission.”
Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America, spoke to the Associated Press. “The damage could have been irreparable,” he said. “The only course of action was to leave.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News the decision is “a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement.”
The tournament was to be the first men’s major played on a Trump property. But after watching Trump supporters inspired by the president and his close advisers invade the Capitol, the PGA of America made its decision. Lawmakers were voting to certify the election in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump received another rebuke Monday when Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said the organization had no plans to stage any championships at Trump’s Turnberry property in Scotland and will not do so in the foreseeable future.
The New York Times reported in July that Trump reportedly instructed his British ambassador to work on making sure Turnberry would host a British Open.
Trump already had his moment at Bedminster in 2017 when the U.S. Women’s Open was held at the venue. The United States Golf Association received backlash for not moving the tournament after Trump had made repeated disparaging remarks about women.
Trump is an avid golfer whose Trump Organization owns 17 courses worldwide, 12 in the United States. Reports have him playing golf as many as 340 days during his presidency, many of those at his property in West Palm Beach and at times with local golf legends past and present, including as least three times with Tiger Woods.
The PGA of America does not serve golf ’s rich and famous. Rather, it represents the rank and file of about 28,000 club professionals. The organization runs the PGA Championship, Women’s PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship and Ryder Cup
when played in the United States.
Now is the time for those in the golf world to get in line with the PGA of America and disassociate themselves from a soon-to-be-former president. It is time to condemn, at the minimum, his actions as he exits the White House and returns to Mar-a-Lago.