The Donald doesn’t do irony well, so it seems.
Learning this week that the PGA is moving next year’s World Golf Championship from his Doral resort in Miami to – of all places – Mexico, Trump railed against the world.
“It is a sad day for Miami, the United States and the game of golf,” he told reporters. “What’s going on with our country … The PGA Tour has put profit ahead of thousands of American jobs, millions of dollars in revenue for local communities and charities. This decision only further embodies the very reason I am running for president of the United States.”
Trump even managed yet another dig at this country.
“I hope they have kidnapping insurance.”
World number 2 golfer Rory McIlroy was able to see the irony. “We just jump over the wall,” he joked after applauding the PGA’s decision to widen the appeal of golf outside the United States.
The 2017 event will be called the the WGC-Mexico Championship and be held at the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. According to PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, the move is mostly based on the decision by longtime sponsors Cadillac to drop out. The new tournament sponsors will be Grupo Salinas, the owners of TV Azteca, Banco Azteca, AT&T México, and the Grupo Elektra chain of stores.
Many commentators, however, believe the PGA is walking a fine line between the need to squeeze money from corporate America and trying not to get wrapped up in the frenzy that surrounds Trump’s bid for the presidency.
“From a political standpoint, we are neutral,” Finchem told reporters this week. “The PGA Tour has never been involved or cares to be involved in presidential politics.”