The Guardian's Ewan Murray reports exclusively that the European Tour has been making visits to Trump International Golf Links (Aberdeen) and appears set to rekindle a partnership that almost happened a few years ago (Telegraph/Corrigan).
The stars are aligning for the venue plagued by protests and other sagas since its inception, and even once thought to be hosting three Scottish Opens. Things changed when now-President Donald Trump made comments on the campaign trail.
Murray notes this as a key reason this may happen:
Martin Gilbert, Aberdeen Asset’s co-founder and chief executive, is close enough to Trump to have attended the president’s inauguration in January. With the Scottish Open broadcast live on the other side of the Atlantic, there is a growing link between the tournament and the United States.
Any such move would, however, be highly controversial. Among those who would need to be happy about it are Rolex, who have included the Scottish Open in their new and enhanced series on the European Tour. The Scottish government is also a partner in the tournament but did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment regarding it being held at Trump International.
It's a partnership that makes obvious sense for Aberdeen Asset, especially if Royal Aberdeen is believed to be lukewarm on hosting again. However, of greater concern is the sheer difficulty of Trump International and how that aligns with former Commissioner George O'Grady's desire to play the Scottish Open on a fun, not-excessively difficult links test the week prior to The Open.
Last week, Gullane was announced as the 2018 Scottish Open(s) host.