{"id":401710,"date":"2025-09-06T04:14:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T04:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/401710\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T04:14:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T04:14:21","slug":"rory-mcilroy-makes-stance-very-clear-on-playing-at-golf-course-owned-by-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/401710\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy makes stance very clear on playing at golf course owned by Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rory McIlroy is competing at the Irish Open this week and has been asked about the possibility of the tournament being held at a golf course owned by US President Donald Trump<a class=\"AuthorLink_author-link__rg5qj\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/authors\/sam-frost\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Sam Frost<\/strong><\/a> Senior sports reporter and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_7ae2e9\">Chris Burns<\/strong> Senior Sports Writer<\/p>\n<p>08:43, 05 Sep 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_Screenshot-347.jpg\" alt=\"Rory McIlroy wearing a claret jumper speaking in an interview\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Rory McIlroy has made his feelings clear on playing at one of US President&#8217;s courses(Image: YouTube\/Ryder Cup)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Golfing icon<a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/all-about\/rory-mcilroy\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"> Rory McIlroy<\/a> has made it clear he wouldn&#8217;t object to playing in next year&#8217;s Irish Open if it takes place at one of <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/all-about\/donald-trump\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Donald Trump&#8217;s<\/a> golf courses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The reigning Masters champion is currently <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/sport\/other-sport\/golf\/rory-mcilroy-day-two-tee-32416339\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">participating in his home open this week<\/a>, kicking off with <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/sport\/other-sport\/golf\/rory-mcilroy-rage-irish-open-32413802\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">a one-under-par round at The K Club<\/a> near Dublin on Thursday. Speculation is rife that next year&#8217;s tournament will be staged <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.belfastlive.co.uk\/sport\/other-sport\/golf\/spectacular-donald-trump-golf-resort-32130562\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">at Trump International Doonbeg<\/a> on Ireland&#8217;s west coast, while another of his courses has already been confirmed as making a comeback to the PGA Tour schedule.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Trump&#8217;s contentious political stance has impacted his collection of golf courses&#8217; ability to host premier tournaments since he first assumed office in 2017. Event organisers are concerned that the President&#8217;s involvement could overshadow the tournaments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Turnberry, the gem in Trump&#8217;s golf course portfolio, hasn&#8217;t hosted The Open Championship since he acquired it for \u00a344.5million in 2014. However, it appears that the position of golf&#8217;s decision-makers is starting to soften.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Last month, Trump International Aberdeen was the venue for a DP World Tour event, and the President&#8217;s Doral resort is set to host a PGA Tour tournament in 2026, reports <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.themirror.com\/sport\/golf\/rory-mcilroy-donald-trump-course-1371913\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"the Mirror USLink opens in a new tab.\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">the Mirror US<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A distinctive four-on-four made-for-TV tournament featuring McIlroy and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will be held at Trump International Jupiter in December. During his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, McIlroy made clear that he would have no issue competing if the DP World Tour opts to bring the Irish Open to Doonbeg.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_GettyImages-1148483129.jpg\" alt=\"General view of Trump International Doonbeg\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Doonbeg is set to host the Irish Open in 2026(Image: Charles McQuillan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve never played Doonbeg,&#8221; McIlroy said. &#8220;I might have gone there for dinner once while I was down playing Lahinch at some point. But no, I mean, I&#8217;ve obviously heard the rumours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure if it&#8217;s confirmed or not, or when the schedule comes out, but if it were to go there, I&#8217;d have no problem. You know, the Scottish Championship was played at a Trump property near Aberdeen there a few weeks ago and looked like it was a great event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;We&#8217;re going back to Doral next year on the PGA Tour. So if it&#8217;s back on a links course, I&#8217;m not sure how Doonbeg stacks up in terms of other links courses in the country, but I&#8217;d be absolutely happy to go there and play.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_President-Trump-Meets-With-His-Cabinet-At-The-White-House.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump looks on while wearing a suit\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Donald Trump has seen his courses become the host of major events again(Image: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">McIlroy had been poised to finish amongst the early leaders following a strong start on Thursday, but a pair of dropped shots late in his round saw him tumble down the leaderboard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I felt like I played better than what the score reflects,&#8221; the Northern Irishman said. &#8220;Felt like I hit the ball well, drove the ball well; you know, just had that disappointing finish, bogeying two of the last three holes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;But actually pretty encouraged how I played. Just didn&#8217;t score as well as I wanted to. The game feels pretty good. Off the tee was good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;It was sort of a continuation of what I saw at East Lake a couple of weeks ago. Just a matter of being more efficient with the scoring.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy is competing at the Irish Open this week and has been asked about the possibility of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[32,2826,97849,4287,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-401710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-golf","10":"tag-irish-open","11":"tag-rory-mcilroy","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115155413549447868","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}