KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) – The PGA of America severed ties with President Donald Trump when he voted Sunday to remove the PGA Championship event from his New Jersey golf course next year.
The vote comes four days after Trump’s uprising during the country’s Capitol when Congress confirmed the election victory of President-elect Joe Biden. This is the second time in just over five years that the PGA of America has removed one of its events from a Trump course.
PGA President Jim Richerson says the board voted to exercise its right to “terminate the agreement” with Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey.
“We are in a political situation that does not have our origins,” said Seth Waugh, chief executive of the PGA of America, in a telephone interview. “We are trustworthy for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand. And how do we protect it? We felt given the tragic events of Wednesday that we could no longer hold it in Bedminster. The damage could have been irreparable. The only real way of action was to leave. ”
The PGA of America, with about 29,000 golf professionals mostly hosting the game, signed the agreement with Trump National in 2014.
It canceled the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Trump National Los Angeles Golf Club in 2015 after Trump’s derogatory remarks about Mexican immigrants when he announced he was seeking the Republican nomination for president. The event was canceled for good next spring.
The shocking uprising on Wednesday plagued the country, and in golf circles, attention quickly focused on whether the PGA of America would hold its top championship – and one of the four largest golf championships – in Trump in 2022.
“Our decision was not about speed and timing,” Waugh said. “The most important thing for our management and leadership is to protect our brand and reputation, and the ability of our members to lead the growth of the game, which they do through so many powerful programs in their communities.”
The Trump organization said in a statement that it has a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America and is incredibly disappointed with their decision. ‘
“This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement,” the statement read. ‘As an organization, we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. We will continue to promote the game of golf at every level and stay focused on operating the best golf courses anywhere in the world. ”
Waugh declined to say whether the PGA of America expects any legal challenges from the Trump organization.
Trump delivered a speech to his supporters in which he repeatedly made unfounded allegations that the election was stolen from him and urged them to “fight”.
They stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers ratified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. After forcing their way inside, the violent crowd stormed the building and hid terrified staff and lawmakers. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, were killed.
A new ABC News / Ipsos poll Released Sunday, found that 67% of respondents said Trump deserved a “good amount” or a “large amount of debt for the uprising.
‘It’s not because of any pressure we’re experiencing. We are not forced to make a decision, ‘Waugh said. “We had to make a business decision. It is an eternal institution. My job is to surrender it better than when I got it. One hundred years from now we still want to be alive. ”
The PGA of America, which operates separately from the PGA Tour and its week-to-week tournaments, previously hosted the Senior PGA Championship on Trump’s track outside Washington in 2017. It was the same year that the USGA hosted the U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National. in Bedminster.
Trump also owns Turnberry in Scotland, one of the most picturesque links in the British Open rotation best known for the ‘Duel in Sun’ between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus in 1977, and recently Stewart Cink introduced a 59-year-old Watson in 2009. The R&A, which determines the British Open rotation, has not returned to Turnberry since Trump took over.
He also owns Trump Doral outside of Miami, which has been a venerable stop at the PGA Tour for years and recently hosted a World Golf Championship. Trump’s presence made it difficult to get a corporate sponsor, and the tournament moved to Mexico in 2017.
Waugh said the PGA of America already had a team in New Jersey to sell the opportunities to the public and local sponsorship. It’s now about finding a place to play the PGA Championship, dating back to 1916, for next year.
The PGA is in May on Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
“We’ve reached a number of places already,” Waugh said. “We think we will have a lot of options.”