By Mark Lamport-Stokes
March 5 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump has cast a shadow over the WGC-Cadillac Championship in
Miami, even though he has yet to make an appearance at this
week's edition as owner of the hosting venue.
Trump's polarizing words on the campaign trail have angered
many people in the world of golf, and there is a possibility his
Trump National Doral resort will not stage the elite World Golf
Championships event after this year.
The PGA Tour has a contract with Doral through to 2023, but
Cadillac is in the final year of its title sponsorship and does
not plan to renew, leaving the path open for a new sponsor to
take the tournament elsewhere.
Trump has made his party's establishment uneasy with his
abrasive tone and policy positions, including his promise to
build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, deport 11 million
illegal immigrants and temporarily bar Muslims from entering the
country.
And Trump's antagonistic comments have already cost him in
the golfing world.
The elite PGA Grand Slam of Golf, a 36-hole stroke-play
event that brings together the winners of the season's four
majors, was scrapped last year due to complications over the
proposed venue, Trump's National course in Los Angeles.
Trump was criticized for comments he made about undocumented
immigrants from Mexico, whom he described as rapists and
drug-runners when he launched his bid for the Republican
nomination, and plans were made by organizers to seek out a
different venue following a mutual agreement between Trump and
the PGA of America.
Asked this week about Doral's future as a venue for the WGC
event, the PGA Tour said in a statement: "Mr. Trump's comments
are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and
welcoming environment in the game of golf.
"The PGA Tour has had a 53-year commitment to the Doral
community, the greater Miami area and the charities that have
benefited from the tournament. Given this commitment, we are
moving forward with holding the 2016 event at the Blue Monster.
"Immediately after the completion of the 2016 tournament, we
will explore all options regarding the event's future."
Trump's campaign could not be reached immediately for
comment on Saturday.
Trump told Golf Week earlier this week that he had not
spoken to the PGA Tour about Doral possibly losing the
tournament, adding: "If they want to move it, that's up to them.
"I think they would be foolish to want to move it, because
it's the best course in Florida ... it's got tremendous history.
There's nothing comparable to Doral."
Trump is usually ever-present at golf events hosted by any
of his courses but he has not been spotted at Doral this week,
mainly because of his hectic commitments on the campaign trail.
DRUMMING UP SUPPORT
While Trump has been conspicuously absent from Doral, a
local protest group has been drumming up support to persuade the
PGA Tour to drop the Miami-area venue from its playing schedule.
"This started after Trump made some of his most outrageous
comments about immigration, about not letting Muslims into the
United States," Aaron Viles, senior grassroots organizer for
Care2, a social network of citizen activists, told Reuters.
"Anyone willing to have Trump's name associated with their
endeavors is tacitly approving that type of speech. The goal is
to get the PGA Tour to drop the Trump location."
Care2 launched an online petition in early December
demanding that the Cadillac Championship be removed from Doral,
and has so far attracted 94,000 supporters.
Doral has been a PGA Tour venue since 1962, and Trump is
expected to be there on Sunday, most likely for the conclusion
of the final round.
The best players in the game are competing this week, but
most have been reluctant to be drawn into making comments about
Trump and the prospect of the event changing venues.
"I'm not American, he's not going to be the leader of my
country," former world number one Rory McIroy of Northern
Ireland told reporters.
"I really thought I knew what politics were until I started
to watch some of these presidential debates," McIroy said. "It's
shocking. If I were to vote, I'm not sure I would want to vote
for any of the candidates."