New R and A top boss dances around Donald Trump and LIV Golf

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PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — There were no kid gloves for new R&A chief Mark Darbon at his first Open Championship press conference as issues surrounding both Donald Trump and LIV Golf were brought to the fore on Wednesday at Royal Portrush.

The U.S. president has long been influential in golf circles, but it’s his ownership of Turnberry Golf Club (now Trump Turnberry) that has been a lightning rod for controversy at Open Championships in recent times.

The Scottish golf course is undoubtedly one of the world’s finest. It has hosted the Open four times, but the game’s oldest championship hasn’t been played at the famed course on the Ayrshire Coast since Stewart Cink defeated Tom Watson in 2009.

Many have linked the absence of the Open to Trump’s controversial rise to political power in the United States.

That assumption was deftly denied by Darbon, who despite a background in the rough-and-tumble sport of rugby proved on Wednesday to be very polished in his first stint atop the global world of golf.

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“I think we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry,” Darbon said. “We love the golf course, but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of their setup here and we’ve got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.”

Darbon said the course has not been taken out of the Open rotation, despite appearances to the contrary.

“We’ve explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues but we’d need to address those logistical challenges should we return,” he said.

Darbon was more diplomatic than his predecessor Martin Slumbers when asked if Trump’s ownership was a roadblock in returning to Turnberry.

“It’s a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back.” Darbon said. “I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organization and from Turnberry.

“We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we’re coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we’ve got a good dialogue with them.”

He said the R&A has had good conversations with Turnberry ownership and that his organization will work with the club and government to figure out how best to address the logistical hurdles.

So, just a negotiation with Trump and with government to see about funding and facilitating an upgrade to infrastructure for a golf tournament. That should go smoothly.

As for LIV Golf, the breakaway tour officially has re-applied to receive Official World Golf Ranking points, and Darbon sits on the board of the OWGR. He provided a brief update on Wednesday.

“An application has been received,” Darbon said. “I think that’s a good thing.”

The issue of world ranking points has been a serious one for LIV, as many of its members have seen themselves on the outside looking in at major championships as ranking points are a primary point of entry for the game’s biggest tournaments.

Aussie Cam Smith was No. 2 in the world when he left for LIV Golf three years ago. He is now ranked No. 202.

LIV’s original application was denied in 2023. According to the OWGR, the biggest issues weren’t necessarily the structure of the tour with just 48 players and 54 holes per event, but rather the lack of a pathway for players to join through qualifiers or merit.

Another factor apparently was the team and individual competition taking place concurrently.

Darbon offered no new information about LIV’s bid and any changes the league might be willing to make.

“I haven’t reviewed the technical submission in any detail,” he said. “That’s the process that we’ll go through now so it’s difficult to comment at this stage.

“There’s a robust process that now exists that the bid will be assessed by the technical committee and then ultimately determined by the board.”

With a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf looking further and further away, this week’s Open Championship will likely be the last time players on the two tours meet in a stroke play event until the Masters in nine months time.