A blow to Florida, a blow to Donald Trump: The Professional Golf Association announced Wednesday the PGA Tour will leave the Trump National Doral Golf Course next year and re-establish the prestigious tournament in Mexico.
An astonished Trump said in a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity Tuesday night that he had just received the grim news.
"They're moving it to Mexico City, which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance," the presumptive Republican nominee added.
Doral has been the longest-running PGA Tour event in Florida, dating to 1962. The WGC-Cadillac Championship had been at Doral since 2007 was one of the WGCs that originally moved around the world. It was played in Spain, Ireland and England until 2007, when all the WGCs moved to America. Now there is one in Shanghai.
Doral had been a regular PGA Tour event before that.
According to news reports, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is expected to discuss the change Wednesday afternoon.
Trump more officially criticized the move in a statement Wednesday, calling it a "sad day for Miami, the United States and the game of golf" to leave Doral after 54 years and go to Mexico.
"No different than Nabisco, Carrier and so many other American companies, the PGA Tour has put profit ahead of thousands of American jobs, millions of dollars in revenue for local communities and charities and the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of fans who make the tournament an annual tradition," Trump said. "This decision only further embodies the very reason I am running for president of the United States."
Butch Buchholz, brought in last year as the tournament chairman to help promote the event, told the Miami Herald the tour is leaving for Mexico because it couldn't find a title sponsor. Cadillac's sponsorship ended this year, and it chose not to renew.
The tour has spent a year trying to find a replacement. Buchholz blamed sponsorship difficulties on Trump's notoriety surrounding his caustic comments during the presidential campaign. They began, he said, when Trump said Mexico was sending its unwanted people to the United States, and that in many cases they were "criminals, drug dealers, rapists."
Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz, currently running for mayor, blames the current mayor of Doral for condoning Trump's remarks by failing to take back the key to the city the council gave the celebrity/GOP presidential nominee.
“The loss of the Doral PGA tournament is a huge blow to our community," Ruiz said. "The tournament brought Doral millions of dollars that our residents and small businesses relied upon for income and opportunity. I believe we could have prevented this move had our mayor not handled this situation so poorly, by giving Trump a key to our city despite widespread community opposition and not condemning his remarks (about Mexicans). Mayor Boria ... stands behind Donald Trump's divisive words -- and the PGA has responded in kind by leaving our city.
"As councilwoman, I am requesting a meeting with the PGA and I will continue to do everything I can to let the PGA and the international business community know that Doral is a welcoming city that is worthy of international investment.”
Actually, the tour has had problems in Mexico City in the past. When a PGA Tour Champions event was held there in 2003, six players were robbed at gunpoint in a restaurant, and thieves got away with expensive watches. No one was hurt.
Trump purchased Doral in 2012 and poured $250 million into renovations. He also brought in Gil Hanse, the architect chosen to design the Olympic course in Rio, to redo the course long known as the "Blue Monster."
The tour signed a deal with Doral through 2023, though there was a provision in the contract that a new title sponsor had the option to move it elsewhere.
After Trump's comments about Mexico, golf quickly distanced itself from him, though not entirely.
PGA of America canceled its Grand Slam of Golf that was scheduled for Trump's course in Los Angeles last fall, and golf organizations stood behind a statement that said Trump's comments were not consistent with golf's commitment to be diverse and welcoming.
But the U.S. Women's Open and the Senior PGA Championship next year are still scheduled for Trump properties, as is the 2022 PGA Championship.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
