The Professional Golfers Association has announced that the 2022 PGA Championship from its planned host site of the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey, marking a significant blow to Donald Trump’s personal business dealings because of his vocal advocacy for chaos agents thinking the 2020 election will be overturned.
CBS Sports announced that the club had been scheduled to host the event since it was booked in 2014.
“It has become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand and would put at risk the PGA’s ability to deliver our many programs and sustain the longevity of our mission,” said PGA of America president Jim Richerson. “Our board has thus made the decision to exercise to terminate the contract to hold the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster. It was a decision made to ensure that the PGA of America and PGA professionals can continue to lead and grow our game for decades to come.”
This is not the first tournament to cancel from a Trump property since Trump entered politics, but it’s the highest profile.
“We find ourselves in a political situation not of our making,” PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh told the AP. “We’re fiduciaries for our members, for the game, for our mission and for our brand. And how do we best protect that? Our feeling was given the tragic events of Wednesday that we could no longer hold it at Bedminster. The damage could have been irreparable. The only real course of action was to leave.”
“Our decision wasn’t about speed and timing,” Waugh added. “What matters most to our board and leadership is protecting our brand and reputation, and the ability for our members to lead the growth of the game, which they do through so many powerful programs in their communities.”
The Trump Organization stated that the PGA has no ability to pull out of the contract and threatened potential legal action.
“We have had a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America and are incredibly disappointed with their decision,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC. “This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement. As an organization we have invested many, many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster. We will continue to promote the game of golf on every level and remain focused on operating the finest golf courses anywhere in the world.”