U.S. President Donald Trump may leave it until the last minute to decide if he’ll make an appearance at the Amgen Irish Open at his County Clare resort, but the DP World Tour and the resort’s management are intent on having all the necessary possibilities covered.
The Irish Open is one of the showpiece events on the DP World Tour’s ‘Back 9’ swing, and will once again be followed by the flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth a week later, and the field which already included Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, and other top-tier home talent including Shane Lowry, Tom McKibbin, Séamus Power, and Pádraig Harrington, was boosted with the news that Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald would also be present, as would Tyrrell Hatton and both Rasmus and Nicolai Højgaard, adding further Ryder Cup flare.
Jon Rahm, a two-time winner having tasted success at Portstewart in 2017 and Lahinch in 2019, is also expected to tee it up having settled his long-standing dispute with the tour, but it is the resort’s owner and 47th President of the United States whom the biggest question mark looms over.
“I suppose the main question is President Trump,” said Joe Russell, General Manager of Trump International Golf Links Ireland at the 2026 Amgen Irish Open media day. “We have no confirmation of that yet. We do know he wants to come but the way the world is, you never know what’s going to happen. But we have not received any confirmation yet.”
Paul Gillmon, Championship Director of the DP World Tour, said that all the necessary steps are being taken to ensure that any disruption caused by the additional security requirements that accompany the President’s arrival will be kept to the minimum possible.
“We’ve planned for all scenarios,” Gillmon said. “If he comes, which is a big if, Joe and his team have been working with the local authorities. It will be disruptive but that goes with the territory. We will just wait and see how things evolve.”
While Trump wasn’t in attendance at the DP World Tour’s Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen last year, he did appear at the Ryder Cup in 2025, and at the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship at Doral earlier this year, having also been present for LIV events on the same course in 2025 and at Trump National Golf Club Washington in 2026.
Disruptions ranged from minor – at LIV Golf Miami – to significant – at the Ryder Cup, in which many fans missed the opening tee shots, but his recent appearance at the NBA Finals match between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs required a four-block exclusion zone either side of Madison Square Garden, and only fans with tickets or relevant credentials were allowed inside the perimeter.
And as one of the most polarising figures in world politics, criticism of the venue choice has been widespread but Russell is adamant that the benefits that Trump and his organisation have brought to the local community on Clare’s west coast are considerable and the resort has been greatly improved since the take over in 2014.
“The situation as relates to president Trump, there’s nothing we can do to control what’s going on in the world,” he said. “But one thing I can say to you is that since the Trump Organisation has taken over this resort, it’s been an upward trend, the people in the community are benefiting, both socially and economically and every other way from the resort. There’s a very positive vibe here towards the Trump Organisation, and that’s as much as we can control.”
The tournament, which runs from September 10-13, will be one of the first to offer qualification points for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, and Sunday’s final round is already completely sold out with limited availability for Saturday.
“Tickets are still on sale and evolving on a week‑by‑week basis, but I anticipate this being up there with where we were at when we were at The K Club, anywhere between 70,000 and 75,000,” said Gillmon. “How that breaks out, Sunday we are sold out and Saturday gets close to that and pushes into the midweek as well. I’m anticipating as strong of attendance as we’ve had in the past few years.
“A strong driver [for ticket sales] is if Rory keeps doing what he’s doing and people want to see him come back and defend his Irish Open. For everyone that was there at The K Club, the scenes around 18 were pretty incredible for an Irish Open.”
The golf course, originally designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2002, has since undergone extensive renovation under the guidance of Martin Hawtree whose work, most notably at Trump Aberdeen and at Trump Turnberry received high acclaim.
The construction of a new 18th hole, four new tee boxes, and the rebuilding of 54 bunkers has been carried out over the past few months, and the course will play as a par-70 for the DP World Tour elite.
Brian Shaw, Head of Golf at the Doonbeg Resort, feels that the course’s evolution over the quarter of a century and the re-focus on the traditional ground game for which links golf is best known will provide a stern test for the pros providing there is adequate wind.
“With Martin Hawtree, the philosophy was to play the ball on the ground,” Shaw said. “Greg’s design was modern links and Martin brought it back, playing the ball on the ground, little swales around the greens.
“So, I think it’s a different skill level that’s needed here in September, definitely, around the greens, when you pitch balls and stuff. It will be fascinating to see. Hopefully we get wind to see the Tour players trying to adapt here.”
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