It’s long been rumoured that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Doonbeg Golf Club in Co. Clare was the frontrunner in the race to host the 2026 Irish Open, and a confirmation announcement is imminent according to BusinnessPlus.ie’s John Lee.
Hot on the heels of Rory McIlroy’s memorable victory at The K Club in Co. Kildare last weekend, the announcement will be sure to divide opinion as the President continues to be one of the most divisive figures in global politics.
Earlier this year, Trump was asked to help mediate negotiations between the PGA Tour (including the DP World Tour, its Strategic Alliance partner) and the Saudi Public Investment Fund – the financial backers of LIV Golf – and though it is widely believed that the negotiation process is no further along, it appears as though Trump has come out as the big winner with the late addition of the Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen to the 2025 DP World Tour schedule, and the return of PGA Tour action to Trump’s Doral Golf Resort in Florida in 2026.
And the move would be highly politically motivated, according to Lee who spoke to a government insider, as though the DP World Tour has the ultimate authority, the Irish Government have a considerable say in where the Irish Open is held.
Donald Trump (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
“President Trump told Micheál [Martin] in the Oval Office on the St Patrick’s Day visit that he hoped to visit Ireland during this term and our strong belief is that he will see this as the perfect opportunity,” Lee quotes a Government source.
“This would not be happening without our say so. We see it as a massively positive move for US-Ireland relations.
“The granting of this, the blue-chip annual international sporting event on the Irish sporting calendar, will of course provide a business boost to Mr Trump’s Doonbeg hotel and golf course.
“Naturally, we hope this munificence will be reciprocated in trade negotiations.”
In March of this year, just 24 hours after Taoiseach Micheál Martin met with Trump at the White House in Washington ahead of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations, the golf course at Trump International Doonbeg was vadalised, with two of the golf course’s greens damaged and Palestinian flags erected, with Palestine Action claiming responsibility and describing it as a “direct response to the US administration’s stated intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza.”
This came just weeks after a similar action was carried out at Turnberry in Scotland, another Trump-owned venue, and it is expected that the announcement will be met with strong criticism from the opposition benches within the Dáil Éireann and among factions of the wider public.
We’re awaiting an official confirmation of the decision still but it’s looking like Doonbeg for 2026.
