The will he or won’t he question about Donald Trump’s attendance at the Amgen Irish Open at his Co Clare resort in Doonbeg in September has been factored into the organisation of the DP World Tour tournament.
“We’ve planned for all scenarios. If he comes, which is a big if, it will be disruptive but that goes with the territory. We will just wait and see how things evolve,” said championship director Paul Gillmon, who said the host venue has been “working with the local authorities” to prepare for any eventuality.
On occasions when the US president has attended sporting events, including last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage and the men’s tennis final at the US Open, and more recently the NBA finals match between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden, additional security measures were required with strict airport-style scanning in place.
When crowds attending the tennis at Flushing Meadows for the singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner were delayed getting to their seats by up to an hour, the US Secret Service issued a statement explaining that protecting the president “required a comprehensive effort”.
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Although there have been indications of a desire by Trump to attend the Irish Open – with even a suggestion that he would like to play in the pre-tournament pro-am – such speculation is just that, with planning and contingency measures factoring in the possibility.
“We have no confirmation of that yet. We do know he wants to come but the way the world is, you never know what’s going to happen. But we have not received any confirmation yet,” said Joe Russell, the general manager of Doonbeg resort.
“The situation as relates to president Trump, there’s nothing we can do to control what’s going on in the world. But one thing I can say to you is that since the Trump Organisation has taken over this resort, it’s been an upward trend, the people in the community are benefiting, both socially and economically and every other way from the resort. There’s a very positive vibe here towards the Trump Organisation, and that’s as much as we can control.”
With the focus on the actual golf tournament, which will count as part of the early Ryder Cup qualifying for next year’s match between Europe and the United States at Adare Manor, ticket sales are anticipated to reach a similar scale to that of last year’s tournament at The K Club, where Rory McIlroy won when 75,000 attended through the week.
The tournament runs from September 10th to 13th and already Sunday’s final day is a complete sell-out and the ticket sales for Saturday’s third round are close to being sold out.
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“A strong driver [for ticket sales] is if Rory keeps doing what he’s doing and people want to see him come back and defend his Irish Open. For everyone that was there at The K Club, the scenes around 18 were pretty incredible for an Irish Open,” said Gillmon, speaking at a media and partners day at the venue.
Big names continue to be added to the field for the €5.25 million tournament. Defending champion McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Séamus Power, Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington were already confirmed and they were joined in the latest tranche of entries by Ryder Cup players Tyrrell Hatton and the Højgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, along with team captain Luke Donald. Two-time winner Jon Rahm is also expected to commit to playing.
This will be Doonbeg’s first time to stage the Irish Open, which was first played in 1927 and is considered one of the premier tournaments on the European Tour. Originally designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2002, the course has undergone renovations by Martin Hawtree in recent years – with a new finishing hole along with four new tee complexes and rebuilding of all 54 bunkers – and will play as a par-70 for the tournament.
