Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Club will not be the venue for the next Open Championship, as the R&A has confirmed that Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club will host the 156th Open in 2028. The 2024 edition of the tournament will be played at Royal Birkdale, and the historic "Home of Golf" at St Andrews is slated to welcome the championship in 2027. Turnberry, which has long campaigned for a place on the Open rota, remains sidelined for the foreseeable future because a series of logistical and financial obstacles still need to be resolved.
"The challenge at Turnberry is a logistical challenge," said Mark Darbon, the current chief executive of the R&A, during a Sky Sports interview on Monday. He explained that the scale of a modern Open demands a robust road, rail and accommodation network, and that the infrastructure around Turnberry currently falls short of those requirements. "We have a good dialogue with the venue, we’re open‑minded, we’ll maintain that dialogue and see where we get," Darbon added. Muirfield, another storied Scottish club, is also absent from the R&A’s short‑term plans.
The last time Muirfield hosted the Open was in 2013, when Phil Mickelson claimed the Claret Jug by three strokes. The club’s exclusion dates back to a 2016 statement from former R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers, who said Muirfield would not be considered until it lifted its ban on female members. Although the club voted in 2017 to admit women, the venue has yet to re‑enter the Open rotation, despite a public appeal from Rory McIlroy in early 2024.
Current projections suggest that Muirfield will not return to the championship until at least 2031, especially after the neighboring Renaissance Club secured the Genesis Scottish Open through 2030. Royal Lytham & St Annes will host the 2028 Open from August 3‑6, marking its first appearance since 2012, when Ernie Els lifted the Claret Jug for the second time. 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, saying, "Royal Lytham & St Annes is widely renowned as one of the world’s finest links courses and has witnessed many great championship moments since the Open was first played there in 1926 when the legendary Bobby Jones won. This is one of golf’s most cherished and historic venues and the Open’s return will spark huge interest among fans to be part of one of the world’s great sporting events and celebrate the rich traditions of golf’s original Championship." Tim Walker, chairman of the council at Royal Lytham & St Annes, echoed that sentiment: "We are honoured to be chosen as the host venue for the 156th Open in 2028.
The club has a long and successful association with the Open, and we take great pride in our place within the Championship’s history. It is fitting that this announcement comes as we mark 100 years since Bobby Jones’ victory here in 1926 and the granting of our Royal status. We look forward to welcoming the world’s leading players, together with spectators and audiences from across the globe, to our links on England’s golf coast." The R&A is moving the Open back to August in 2028 to avoid a clash with the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The 2025 Open, won by Scottie Scheffler at Royal Portrush, was the 153rd edition and gave Scheffler his fourth major title.
This year’s Open will be staged at Royal Birkdale from July 16‑19, while Lytham & St Annes will also host the AIG Women’s Open from July 29‑August 2, broadcast live on Sky Sports. Donald Trump, who purchased Turnberry in April 2014, has long hoped the resort would return to the Open rota. He has reportedly appealed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to have the venue selected for the championship. Turnberry’s Ailsa Course has hosted the Open four times, most recently in 2009 when Stewart Cink emerged victorious.
Over the four rounds of that tournament, roughly 120,000 spectators attended. Despite its reputation as one of the premier courses in the British Isles, the R&A believes Turnberry’s remote Ayrshire location presents significant logistical and financial challenges.
In a 2021 statement, the R&A expressed concern that a Turnberry Open would shift focus away from the sport and onto the political profile of the U.S. President who owns the club. That year, the PGA of America also withdrew the right for Trump National Golf Club Bedminster to stage the 2022 PGA Championship, underscoring the broader concerns about political entanglement in major tournaments.
An R&A spokesperson later reiterated the position: "We had no plans to stage any of our championships at Turnberry and will not do so in the foreseeable future. We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself, and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances." In 2025, Eric Trump met with R&A officials to discuss Turnberry’s prospects.
While the talks were described as "largely positive," the core issue of logistics remained. Darbon said he would "love" to see the Open return to Turnberry, but emphasized that without substantial improvements to road, rail and accommodation infrastructure, the venue could not meet the demands of a modern major.
"Unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back," he explained. "I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation from Turnberry. We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we are coming from.
We talked through some of the challenges that we have, so we have a good dialogue with them." The Guardian reported in 2025 that a spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s office had also reached out to the R&A, urging the inclusion of Turnberry in the 2028 schedule. The R&A clarified that any decision about the Open’s venue is independent of government influence.
"We regularly engage with government and local authorities regarding venues," an R&A spokesperson told Sky Sports. "We have explained the logistical challenges around Turnberry to the government, and they are aware of the position." Ticket demand for upcoming Opens remains massive. Over one million applications were received for the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale, while the 2025 event at Royal Portrush set an attendance record with 278,000 spectators across four days—the highest figure for any Open outside St Andrews. Darbon summed up the R&A’s stance: "I think we’ve been extremely clear on our position in respect of Turnberry.
We love the golf course but we’ve got some big logistical challenges there. You see the scale of their set‑up here and we’ve got some work to do on the 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, with live coverage 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 coveted venue for many supporters of the Open, the R&A’s current assessment prioritises logistical feasibility, infrastructure readiness, and the desire to keep the spotlight on the sport itself. Royal Lytham & St Annes, with its storied history and proven capacity to host large‑scale events, will take centre stage in 2028, continuing the tradition of moving the championship among the United Kingdom’s most iconic links courses.