“No one’s been better for golf than my father,” says Trump’s son as he reveals Turnberry Open hopes
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Donald Trump’s son was bullish over hopes of the major returning to the Ailsa course as he hit out at “fricking laughable” criticism in a wide-ranging interview.
Eric Trump is in no doubt The Open will return to Turnberry sooner rather than later – but he is also aware it might not happen until his father’s second term as president of the United States has come to an end.
The game’s oldest championship will be held at Royal Birkdale next year and then at St Andrews in 2027, meaning 2028 is the earliest it could be staged at the famous Ayrshire venue.
“I think everybody will tell you Turnberry is the best course on the rota,” Trump Jnr told BBC Sport’s Dan Roan. “It [The Open] will return at the right time.”
The Vice President of the Trump Organization added: “I’d love to see it in 2028, and we’d certainly be ready for it. And if it’s 2029, that’s great, and if it’s 2030…
“The chances are by the time an Open comes back around, the political end is over. His [Donald Trump’s] time in government will be gone, and we’ll be back to being a strictly commercial company.”
Turnberry has hosted The Open four times, but it hasn’t welcomed the best golfers in the world to do battle for the Claret Jug since 2009.
Tom Watson claimed the first Open at Turnberry in the famous ‘Duel of the Sun’ in 1977 and only needed a par at the 72nd hole to win again in 2009 and complete one of the greatest stories in all of sport.
However, after a closing bogey, the then 59-year-old was denied by Stewart Cink in a four-hole playoff.
The Trump Organization bought the resort in 2014 and pumped tens of millions into redesigning the iconic layout.
It is now regarded as one of the best courses in the UK and the world, and Eric Trump believes an Open return would be just reward for all the effort he and his father have contributed to the game.
“A tremendous amount,” Trump Jnr said, when asked what it would mean for The Open to return. “I got to Turnberry and it was a sick puppy. I took that course back to square one and rebuilt it. I put in hundreds of millions of dollars, and Turnberry is the best, everybody says it.
“It deserves it. I truly think my father’s been a guy who also deserves it; there’s no one who’s been better for the game of golf than my father.”
The “elephant in the room”, as described by Eric, has been his father’s presidency, which comes to an end in January 2029.
Mark Darbon, the R&A’s chief executive, offered hope to the Trumps earlier in the year, but, speaking ahead of this year’s tournament at Portrush, said there are serious logistical challenges that need to be overcome before the year’s final men’s major can return.
The Royal & Ancient boss confirmed that Turnberry remains on the rota, but said there was “some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure”.
But Eric Trump, who looks after the family’s golf empire, is adamant these issues wouldn’t get in the way of staging what has become one of sport’s biggest events.
“I think any challenge can be worked through and solved with smart people,” Eric Trump said. “You could host the Open Championship on that course tomorrow, it’s impeccable.
“The standard we run by every single day, we don’t ramp up for tournaments, we expect a tournament to be able to be played on one of these courses on any given day, and Turnberry is ready for it.”
Naysayers are ‘fricking laughable’
Eric Trump’s interview came just days after his father’s visit to Scotland. The US President played golf at Turnberry, where he was caught up in a bizarre cheating incident, before heading to the east coast to officially open the second 18-hole golf course at his Trump International Scotland resort in Aberdeenshire. Originally to be named the Macleod after the president’s Scottish-born mother, it was instead called the New Course.
It complements the existing Old Course and forms what the Trump Organization is calling “the greatest 36 holes in golf”.
However, some locals have been left unhappy that the development hasn’t brought the economic benefits promised.
But Eric Trump says the legacy of the Aberdeenshire won’t be in the company’s balance sheet and that he “doesn’t give a damn” if a profit is never made.
“If you’re out there building a course and putting tens and tens of millions into building a course, the chances are that in any given year you’re probably going to be subsidising the building of that course and then obviously you recoup that in future years,” he said.
“Here’s the good news: we don’t give a damn. This is our Mona Lisa. If we spent $100m and never got a penny back, it doesn’t make any difference.
“We wanted to do something incredible, we wanted to do something for his [Donald’s] legacy, I wanted to do something for mine. We wanted to do something for the birthplace of my grandmother, we wanted to do something to honour an unbelievable country, a country we love very much, and we wanted to do something for the great game of golf.”
There have also been complaints that crafting a course through dunes that previously held special protected status has done irreversible damage to the environment.
Eric Trump brushed those off, too.
“What have we done for the area? Let’s start on the west coast: we saved Turnberry and invested hundreds of millions of dollars into a property that would have otherwise fallen into disrepair.
“On the east coast of Scotland, we built two of the greatest masterpieces in history. We have also contributed millions and millions of dollars.
“This building was practically falling down, and guess what? We built two golf courses that will be here 500 years from now and that will still be creating jobs, that will still be attracting tourists, and that will be one of the great icons anywhere in the world.
“We’ve done a hell of a job, and for anyone to say the Trump Organization hasn’t brought economic development to Scotland, it’s fricking laughable.”
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President Donald Trump waves to the media as he plays golf at Turnberry during his visit in July 2025.
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Eric Trump, pictured with his father, President Donald Trump, at Turnberry.
