Donald Trump's Turnberry Golf Club will not be part of the Open Championship rotation in the near term after the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club was announced as the host for the 156th Open in 2028. The 2024 Open will be staged at Royal Birkdale, and the tournament will move back to its historic home at St Andrews in 2027.
Turnberry, which has long campaigned for a place on the Open schedule, remains sidelined because a number of logistical and financial hurdles have yet to be resolved. The R&A’s chief executive, Mark Darbon, explained to Sky Sports that the scale of a modern Open – from road and rail access to accommodation capacity – presents a "logistical challenge" for the remote Ayrshire venue. He added that the R&A continues to maintain an open dialogue with Turnberry’s owners, hoping that progress on infrastructure could eventually make a future bid viable.
Muirfield, another storied Scottish links, was also omitted from the R&A’s short‑term plans. The club last hosted the Open in 2013, when Phil Mickelson captured the Claret Jug. In 2016 former R&A chief Martin Slumbers said Muirfield would not be considered again until it lifted its ban on female members. Although the club voted in 2017 to admit women, the venue still has not re‑entered the rotation, even after Rory McIlroy publicly urged the R&A to restore it.
The next realistic window for Muirfield is 2031, after the neighboring Renaissance Club has secured the Genesis Scottish Open through 2030. Royal Lytham & St Annes will host the Open from 3 to 6 August 2028, marking its first appearance since Ernie Els lifted the Claret Jug there in 2012.
The links have a distinguished roll of champions that includes Bobby Jones, Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Sir Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Lehman and David Duval. Darbon praised the course as "one of the world’s finest links" and highlighted its historic moments dating back to Bobby Jones’s 1926 victory. He said the return to Lytham will generate huge enthusiasm among fans eager to celebrate golf’s original championship tradition. Tim Walker, chairman of the council at Royal Lytham & St Annes, expressed pride in being selected for the 156th Open, noting that the announcement coincides with the centenary of Bobby Jones’s 1926 win and the club’s receipt of Royal status.
He looked forward to welcoming the sport’s top players and a global audience to England’s coastal links. The R&A is moving the Open back to its traditional August slot in 2028 to avoid a clash with the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The most recent Open, the 153rd edition at Royal Portrush in 2025, was won by Scottie Scheffler, giving him his fourth major and first Claret Jug.
This year’s Open will be contested at Royal Birkdale from 16 to 19 July, while Lytham & St Annes will also stage the AIG Women’s Open from 29 July to 2 August, broadcast live on Sky Sports. President Donald Trump, who purchased Turnberry in April 2014, has long hoped the course could return to the Open schedule. He reportedly appealed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to have Turnberry selected for 2028. Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has hosted the Open four times, most recently in 2009 when Stewart Cink won.
About 120,000 spectators attended the four‑day event that year. Despite its reputation as a premier links venue, the R&A believes the remote location would strain transportation, accommodation and financial resources.
In a 2021 statement the R&A warned that the focus of an Open at Turnberry might shift from the golf itself to the political profile of the U.S. president, a concern that resurfaced after the PGA of America stripped Trump National Golf Club Bedminster of its 2022 PGA Championship rights.
The R&A reiterated that it has no plans to stage any championships at Turnberry in the foreseeable future, emphasizing that any future inclusion would require confidence that the tournament’s attention remains on the players, the course and the competition. In 2025, Eric Trump met with R&A officials to discuss the venue. While the talks were described as constructive, the core issue – logistical viability – remained unresolved.
Darbon said he would “love” to see the Open return to Turnberry, but without substantial improvements to road, rail and lodging infrastructure, the R&A cannot justify the move. He noted a recent meeting with Eric Trump and Turnberry leadership, stating that both sides now understand the challenges and will continue dialogue. A 2025 Guardian report mentioned that a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s office had also reached out to the R&A, urging consideration of Turnberry for 2028. The R&A clarified that venue decisions are independent of government influence, though they do maintain regular contact with local authorities about infrastructure concerns.
Ticket demand for the Open remains extraordinary. Over one million applications were received for the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale, and the 2025 event at Royal Portrush set a record with 278,000 spectators across four days – the highest attendance for an Open outside St Andrews.
Darbon summed up the R&A’s stance: "We love the golf course, but we have significant logistical challenges. The scale of the setup requires work on road, rail and accommodation infrastructure." Meanwhile, the PGA Tour will travel to Trump National Doral in Miami for the inaugural Cadillac Championship, the fourth Signature Event of the 2026 season, broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Golf fans can watch all four rounds of the Cadillac Championship from Thursday at 4 pm on Sky Sports Golf, or stream without a contract. In summary, while Turnberry remains a dream venue for many supporters of Donald Trump, the practical realities of transportation, accommodation and the need to keep the spotlight on the sport itself have kept it out of the Open rotation for now. Royal Lytham & St Annes, with its rich history and proven infrastructure, will host the 2028 Open, promising a classic links showdown that honors the tournament’s heritage while delivering a world‑class spectator experience.