DORAL — While praising LIV Golf and the Saudis for doing “a fantastic job,” former president Donald Trump continued his crusade Thursday against the PGA Tour.
Saying the tour “really blew a great opportunity,” Trump called LIV Golf “big time” with “unlimited money.” Trump properties are hosting events in LIV’s inaugural season, including this week’s season-finale at Trump National Doral and will add a third next season at his course in Washington, D.C.
LIV selection show:Koepka, Mickelson trade insults during LIV Golf team selection show at Trump Doral | D’Angelo
Trump to play pro-am:Donald Trump to play in pro-am on Thursday before LIV Golf event at Doral
Trump also hinted that LIV is not done poaching the PGA Tour.
“And by the way, a lot of other people are coming over,” he said. “Big names.”
Trump spoke for several minutes following the tournament’s pro-am. Trump played nine holes with Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka and nine holes with Sergio Garcia on the Blue Monster. His team – which included son, Eric Trump, and granddaughter, Kai Trump – was 9-under and tied for the low score of the day.
Trump has aligned himself with LIV, the controversial tour financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, partly because of his disdain for the PGA Tour. Trump’s anger at professional golf dates to the PGA Tour moving its World Golf Championship event out of Doral and to Mexico in 2017 and the PGA of America moving the 2022 PGA Championship out of his club in Bedminster after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the US Capitol.
“They never wanted to go to Mexico,” Trump said. “The pros didn’t want to go to Mexico and they went and that didn’t work out. They wanted to be here and the tour wants to be here, too. The tour wants to be here badly.”
PGA Tour leadership has never indicated they want to return to Doral.
When the tour announced in 2016 that it was moving its event out of Doral, Trump said, “I hope they have kidnapping insurance.”
Donald Trump says PGA Tour ‘breaking into (players’) pension fund’
Trump claimed the tour is upsetting its players because it is “breaking into their pension fund” to pay for increased prize money. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has said the tour is using reserves to help pay for elevated purses.
“The PGA is being destroyed by the PGA,” Trump said. “They were stupid and they shouldn’t be stupid. This was a great opportunity for them.
“The tour mishandled it so badly and the people at the top, something should happen with them, they mishandled it so badly. The tour decided to go, as Richard Nixon said, to stonewall it. That didn’t work out too well for them.”
Trump praised his course and his game.
“Not bad, right?” he said to a group of reporters after learning they were golf writers. “I played pretty good.”
As for the Blue Monster …
“I think the course is great,” he said. “The players are in love with this place and they always have been even though it is big and long and hard.
“We put in over a thousand palm trees. Over the years they started disappearing because of the Tour. They put soup stands there, they put up food or some ridiculous thing and they’d take down two palm trees. So we put them all back and multiply it by about 750.”
