Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club will not host the British Open Championship for the time being after Royal Lytham & St Anne’s Golf Club was named to host the 156th British Open in 2028.
This year’s British Open Championship will be held at Royal Birkdale, with the tournament set to return to the ‘home of golf’ St Andrews in 2027.
But Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club, which has long sought a spot in the British Open rotation, will not host the Open for the foreseeable future until multiple logistical issues are resolved.
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R&A chief executive Mark Darbon explains why the British Open Championship will return to Royal Lytham & St Anne’s in 2028.
“The challenge at Turnberry is a logistical challenge,” current R&A chief executive Mark Darbon told Sky Sports on Monday.
“You can see the scale of the modern Open Championship, and the road, rail and accommodation networks around the venue challenge us to deliver what we currently offer.
“We have a good dialogue with the venue and are open-minded and will continue to maintain that dialogue and see where we get to.”
Mr Muirfield has also been removed from the R&A’s immediate plans. The last time the Scottish golf club hosted the Open was in 2013, when Phil Mickelson won by three strokes to claim the Claret Jug.
Although the course is widely regarded as one of the top 100 golf courses in the world, former R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said in 2016 that Muirfield would not host the British Open until the course lifted its ban on female members.
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Scottie Scheffler scores 3 under in the final round to win his fourth major and first Claret Jug win at Royal Portrush.
He said: “If the club’s policy changes, we will reconsider Muirfield as a venue in the future.”
A year later, Muirfield College members voted to allow female golfers to apply for membership, but they are still not given a place in the British Open rotation, even after Rory McIlroy urged the R&A to return the association to the rota in January.
A return to Muirfield will not occur until at least 2031 after it was revealed that the Renaissance Club next door will host the Genesis Scottish Open until 2030.
The British Open returns to Royal Lytham
The Open, to be held from August 3 to August 6 in 2028, will return to Royal Lytham for the first time since 2012, when Ernie Els lifted the famous Claret Jug for the second time.
Ernie Els celebrates his victory when the British Open was last held at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s in 2012
The South African joins the ranks of Royal Lytham & St Anne’s champions, including Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval.
Darbon said: “Royal Lytham & St Anne’s is widely regarded as one of the world’s best links courses and has witnessed many great winning moments since the Open was first held there in 1926, when the legendary Bobby Jones won.”
“This is one of golf’s most cherished and historic venues, and the return of the Open to these famous links will spark tremendous interest among fans to attend one of the world’s great sporting events and celebrate the rich tradition of golf’s original championship.”
Tim Walker, Chairman of Royal Lytham & St Anne’s Council, said: ‘We are honored to have been chosen to host the 156th British Open in 2028.
“Our club has had a long and successful relationship with The Open and are proud of our place in the history of the Championship.
“It is fitting that this announcement is made on the 100th anniversary of Bobby Jones’ victory and royal status here in 1926.
“We look forward to welcoming some of the world’s leading players to our rinks on golf courses in England, along with spectators and spectators from around the world.”
The R&A plans to postpone the British Open Championship to August 2028 to avoid scheduling conflicts with the Los Angeles Olympics.
Scottie Scheffler won the 153rd British Open at Royal Portrush in 2025, winning his fourth major title and first Claret Jug. This year’s British Open will be held at Royal Birkdale from July 16th to 19th.
This year’s AIG Women’s Open in Lytham and St Anne’s will also be broadcast live on Sky Sports from 29 July to 2 August.
Trump, Turnberry, R&A
The U.S. president had long hoped Turnberry could one day return to the British Open rotation.
Mr Trump, who bought the resort in April 2014, reportedly asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer to select a venue in south Ayrshire to host the championships.
Turnberry’s Ailsa course has previously hosted the British Open four times, with Stewart Cink’s victory in 2009 the last time a major was held on a Scottish course. Approximately 120,000 spectators passed through the gates throughout all four rounds of the tournament.
The course is one of the best golf courses in the British Isles, but the R&A believes its remote location on the Ayrshire coast will pose logistical and financial challenges.
The R&A had blocked Turnberry from being included in the open rota.
The R&A addressed the issue in 2021, explaining that it had reservations that the focus of the British Open Championship at Turnberry would not be on the golf course, but rather on issues related to the US president.
The statement comes shortly after the PGA of America rescinded Trump National Golf Club Bedminster’s rights to host the 2022 PGA Championship.
A statement from the R&A said: “We had no plans to host the Championship at Turnberry and have no intention of doing so in the foreseeable future.” “We will not return until we are confident that the focus will be on the championship, the athletes and the course itself, but we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances.”
In 2025, Trump’s son Eric met with R&A officials to discuss the venue in more detail. The talks were generally positive, but some issues remained.
Darbon said he would “love to see” events resume at Turnberry, but added that the golf course is not logistically or financially viable.
“It’s hard to go back unless we deal with the logistical challenges. I met with Eric Trump and other executives from Turnberry’s Trump Golf organization a few months ago,” Darbon said at the time.
“We had a really good discussion. I think they clearly understand where we’re coming from. We talked about some of the challenges we have, so we had a good dialogue with them.”
Donald Trump owns multiple golf courses around the world
The Guardian reported in 2025 that a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s government had also contacted the R&A requesting that Turnberry host the British Open in 2028. However, the decision to host the final major tournament of the golf season was independent of the government.
“We are in regular discussions with government and local authorities regarding venues,” an R&A spokesperson told Sky Sports in 2025.
“We have explained to the government the logistical challenges around Turnberry and they are aware of the position.”
The R&A received more than one million applications for tickets to the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, breaking records for last year’s event at Royal Portrush, with 278,000 patrons entering the venue over all four days of the tournament, the highest attendance at an Open outside of St Andrews.
“I think we’ve made our position very clear regarding Turnberry,” Darbon said. “We love the golf course, but there are some big logistical challenges there. You can see the scale of the facility here, but there’s some work to be done with the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure.”
Nevertheless, the PGA Tour heads to Trump National Doral in Miami this week for the fourth signature event of the 2026 season, the inaugural Cadillac Championship, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Watch all four rounds of the Cadillac Championship at Donald Trump’s Miami Golf Course, starting live on Sky Sports Golf from 4pm on Thursday. Get and stream Sky Sports without a contract.
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