The PGA Tour will finally return to Trump-owned courses after a decade. Trump National Doral’s famous Blue Monster course in Miami will host a PGA Tour event in May 2026. This marks the end of a 10-year break from Trump-owned venues, a gap that started in 2016 when the Tour left the course after political tensions and sponsorship issues.
Blue Monster Set For Miami Championship
The PGA Tour announced on Tuesday that it will stage a new tournament at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster course in Miami in May 2026. The PGA Tour will return to a Trump-owned venue for the first time since 2016 with the new event called the Miami Championship. The tournament will take place from April 30 to May 3, 2026, and will be part of the PGA Tour’s prestigious “Signature Events,” a series of high-profile tournaments that feature the strongest fields, larger prize money, and major TV coverage.
The Miami Championship has a purse of $20m and will mark the 56th time the Tour has played at Trump National Doral but the first since 2016, the year Trump won his first US presidential election. Cadillac ended its sponsorship that year, prompting the PGA Tour to pull the WGC-Cadillac Championship from the resort and relocate it to Mexico City.
“We’re excited to showcase the game’s greatest players competing at golf’s most iconic venues,” PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp said. “Inspired by our players and fans, we’re accelerating the Tour’s evolution and ushering in a new era of innovation on and off the course. We’re thrilled with our momentum in 2025, as our season-long ratings and event attendance are confirming that our players and their stories are resonating with fans.”
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Mixed Reaction Follows PGA Tour Return To Blue Monster
Doral has had close ties to PGA Tour golf since 1962, when it began hosting the Doral Open. The course later became a World Golf Championship site in 2007, but sponsorship problems followed after Donald Trump bought the property in 2012. However, the PGA Tour left Doral in 2016 in a move described by then-commissioner Tim Finchem as a business decision, even though it came during Trump’s rise in politics.
The venue hosted the Doral Open from 1962 to 2006 and a World Golf Championships event from 2007 to 2016. It now returns to the PGA Tour schedule after a decade’s absence and has hosted a LIV Golf event for the last four years in a row.
Reactions to the announcement have been mixed. Supporters point out that the Blue Monster deserves a place on the PGA Tour calendar. On the other hand, critics have been quick to point out the political baggage that comes with staging events at Trump-owned properties. The PGA of America already faced similar controversy in 2021, when it pulled the PGA Championship from Trump’s Bedminster course after the January 6 Capitol riots.
Main Photo Credit: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
