Further to my previous blog, we now know that Kamala Harris need spend no time wondering whether to order the Department of Justice to look into the potential anti-trust ramifications of the PGA Tour striking a deal with the Saudi-backed PIF investment fund, the financial backer behind LIV Golf. It’s now all on Donald Trump, and there are those who with good reason feel an accommodation is now more likely.
Trump has previously claimed he could get the two sides aligned within 15 minutes. To put this into context, he said it would take him 24 hours to resolve the war in Ukraine. (Yes, he really would have got Rome built in a day!) One person onside with that sense of optimism is Rory McIlroy. Over the past 18 months, the Irishman has changed positions on this more times than Simone Biles during a particularly complicated floor routine, but one senses his heart is usually in the right place. Last week McIlroy said: “I think Trump might be able to [sort a deal]. He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him. Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s a lover of golf. So who knows?”
Although Trump does not have a similarly great relationship with the PGA Tour. When LIV first announced itself in 2022, Trump wrote: “All of those golfers that remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all its different forms, will pay a big price when the inevitable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are making Millions of Dollars a year.” (Slightly different from January 6, 2021, this was an example of the Capital Riots.) You may have noticed that Bryson DeChambeau, the US Open champion and LIV loyalist, was at Trump’s victory rally.
On this side of the Atlantic, fresh from celebratory schmoozing with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage (also a keen golfer), declared he could work “behind the scenes” to help the UK government build a “fantastic” relationship with the new Trump administration. Keir Starmer apparently managed to decline this offer – other matters aside, can you imagine Nigel Farage actually doing anything “behind the scenes”? – but what might Farage have had in mind? Perhaps that Loch Ness Monster of political aspirations: a US/UK trade agreement. In a piece for The London Standard last week, Jon Sopel of The News Agents podcast suggested “if there is to be one, it will be on Trump’s terms, with hormone-injected beef and chlorinated chicken”.
Perhaps, but perhaps not. What does Britain have that Trump wants? Simples. A major golf championship. Forget the chlorinated chicken; Trump would risk salmonella to get the chance to host one of those. It would, granted, involve a very considerable climbdown for the R&A to say “Oh go on then, Turnberry can have the Open in 2028.” (They might even make it mandatory for all competitors to play an orange ball in his honour.) However, Trump would be so chuffed he’d probably let the UK officials complete the deal’s small print. And just to keep him honest – you know, in case he thinks about reneging once he’s staged it – lock him in by promising the Open to Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen for 2038.
OK, Keir, I’ll leave it with you…
You can follow Robert Green on Twitter @robrtgreen and enjoy his other blog f-factors.com as well as his golf archive on robertgreen-golf.com
