The PGA Tour made its return to President Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida, over the weekend, breaking a nearly ten-year hiatus that began as Trump entered the political arena. The tournament signals a new era of cooperation between Trump's sprawling golf business and the world's premier golf league.
The event comes as LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed rival tour that has aligned itself with Trump, appears on the brink of collapse. But the warming trend between Trump and the PGA Tour was already evident before this weekend's Cadillac Classic.
“The PGA executives are fairly savvy,” said Kevin Van Valkenburg, director of content at Fried Egg Golf, in an interview. “They're going to read the tea leaves and say, ‘This person is a powerful, influential figure in golf. Maybe we're better off making nice than being in conflict.’”
The tournament was a homecoming of sorts: It marked the 56th time the event has been held at the Blue Monster course at Trump National Doral. Seven of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking competed in the 72-man field.
The Cadillac Championship debuted in 1962, decades before Trump bought the property. Doral last hosted a PGA Tour event in 2016, the year Trump secured the Republican nomination. The following year, the tournament moved to Mexico. Then-PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said at the time that the move was driven by sponsorship challenges, not politics.
“I know everybody's talking about politics, but it's actually not that,” Finchem told reporters in June 2016. “It's more that Donald Trump is a brand, a big brand. When you ask a company to invest millions in branding a tournament and they share that brand with the host, it's a difficult conversation.”
When the Tour unveiled its 2026 schedule, it included a return to Doral, with Cadillac again as title sponsor. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp called Doral “a legacy venue on our schedule.” Cadillac said the return “builds on our legacy with the PGA Tour while connecting with luxury customers through culturally significant events.”
Trump's relationship with the PGA Tour has been complicated. He has supported LIV Golf, which has held events at his properties in New Jersey and near Washington, D.C. He also has personal ties to many players, including two-time Masters champion Rory McIlroy, whom he hosted at a state dinner with King Charles III. Tiger Woods, a close Trump friend, chairs the committee revamping the tour's schedule and is dating Vanessa Trump, the president's former daughter-in-law.
The Trump Organization, run by sons Donald Jr. and Eric, owns 16 golf properties across the U.S., Indonesia, Ireland, Scotland, and the UAE. Five more courses are planned in Indonesia, Qatar, Vietnam, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Trump has long sought to host a men's major at one of his courses. In 2014, the PGA of America scheduled the 2022 PGA Championship at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. That agreement was terminated three days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, with then-PGA of America president Jim Richerson saying hosting the event there “would be detrimental” to the organization's brand.
Trump has also eyed a takeover of Washington, D.C.'s public golf courses, sparking concerns about a potential major or Ryder Cup at Hains Point. Overseas, his Turnberry resort in Scotland has hosted four men's Open Championships and the 2015 Women's British Open, but not under his ownership. Van Valkenburg noted that Turnberry's remote location makes it logistically challenging for the R&A to return.
Van Valkenburg summed up the thaw: “It's another example of how the presidency tends to normalize everyone. It's impossible to sustain outrage against someone the country has elected.”
