With Return To Trump Doral, PGA Tour’s Rich Are Getting Richer

Earlier this week, the PGA Tour announced a 2026 return to Trump Doral for a new event called the Miami Championship.

For a few notable reasons, this isn’t your typical tournament addition.

The Tour left the Miami market after 2016 due to Cadillac dropping out as a title sponsor—it was a bitter divorce between soon-to-be President Donald Trump and Tour leadership—setting up a WGC event in Mexico City instead.

That event had a few good years but ultimately ran into its own sponsorship issues once the pandemic hit. The last Mexico City event was in 2020.

It was inevitable the Tour would want to get back into the coveted South Florida market with a big-time event, but the Blue Monster at Doral is the only decent hosting option in the area. That was problematic because LIV has held an event there the last four years.

However, LIV is not returning to Miami in 2026. The event has been poorly attended relative to other tournaments on the LIV docket. The circuit is focusing on new markets like South Africa and New Orleans while doubling down on its summer run through the Midwest. Ironically, the same Mexico City course that once hosted the Tour is now hosting LIV.

That left the Tour with an opening to come back to Trump Doral.

What does the addition of this event mean?

The Miami Championship (sponsor TBD) will be played the first week of May.

This is going to be a signature event with a $20-million purse. Rather than subtract an event from the calendar, the Tour is simply adding a ninth signature event.

That extra signature event coincides with the Tour reducing full-time cards from 125 to 100, cutting the fat from its bloated membership.

Translation: the Tour’s rich are about to get richer.

This is yet another limited-field event where only the top stars get to play. That means more money will be going into their pockets and less money will be going to the rank and file.

There are about 80 players in the signature tournaments. You have to be in the top 50 of FedEx points the prior year, play your way into the field with great performances or be one of the precious few sponsor invites.

If you are not, you won’t be playing much Tour golf next summer. Opportunities are limited.

Starting with the 2026 Masters, there are three majors and five signature events (!) in a 12-week span.

In the six weeks from the Masters to the PGA Championship, the Tour’s lower-tier members will have only two chances for starts—and one of them is an opposite-field event.

This also means it’s more likely the top players will skip one or more signature events. There are now so many of them crammed into the schedule that it’s easier to take a couple of them off.

Rory McIlroy skipped four signature events this year.

“I’ll always choose the schedule that best fits me, and this year that meant skipping a few signature events,” McIlroy said. “I might skip less next year. I might skip the same amount, I don’t know. The luxury of being a PGA Tour player is we are free to pick and choose our schedule for the most part, and I took advantage of that this year and I’ll continue to take advantage of that for as long as I can.”

While the top players get to pick and choose, the Tour’s journeymen will be squeezed more than ever.

The best players will have even less incentive to play lower-tier events as their calendars are more packed. It’s anticipated some of the bottom-feeder tournaments won’t survive over the long haul as their fields deteriorate.

Being in the signature events means access to points and money that, barring a run of bad play, will likely keep top players on that same track. There will be some turnover, but it won’t be easy to play your way out of the upper echelon—or into it.

Some won’t like the changes, but the Tour is evolving with the times. Fans want to see the best players get together more often. These moves accomplish that.

Trump is no longer taboo in the pro golf world

Trump and pro golf are on good terms now.

That wasn’t the case when the Tour left Doral in 2016. Trump said the Tour better have “kidnapper insurance” for their new event in Mexico City.

It wasn’t the case when the PGA of America abruptly abandoned Trump Bedminster as host of the 2022 PGA Championship following the events of January 6.

It wasn’t the case in 2022 when Trump accused Tour leadership of stealing pension funds to bolster purses in order to combat the LIV.

And it hasn’t been the case as Trump Turnberry has been kept out of the Open Championship rota for political reasons.

All of that seems to be in the past.

Trump hosted Tour and LIV leadership back in February in hopes of bringing the two together. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan then issued a lengthy press release thanking the president.

The mood has clearly changed as Trump is now connected back to the Tour with the Miami Championship. The financial environment around Trump has shifted enough to host a $20-million signature event at his course.

He’s also hinted he will visit next month’s Ryder Cup, run by the PGA of America.

The R&A once said that Turnberry wouldn’t host another Open Championship if the focus was on Trump. Now the focus is on fixing infrastructure issues like transportation and accommodations. If those variables changed, Turnberry would be back on the docket.

And despite LIV no longer going to his course in Miami, the league still has a close relationship with Trump.

The bitterness between Trump and golf’s leadership has waned. It’s worth nothing because the ramifications of that could be endless as pro golf’s shape continues to change.

Of course, in the end, this is mostly about money.

Now where have we heard that before?

Top Photo Caption: The PGA Tour is heading back to Miami for the first time since 2016. (GETTY IMAGES/Chris Condon)