Steve DiMeglio

USA TODAY Sports

DUBLIN, Ohio — The longstanding PGA Tour event held at Trump National Doral Miami is moving south of the border.

And it has nothing to do with politics, according to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour announced Wednesday that the World Golf Championships event held at Trump National will move to Mexico City beginning next year. The event will be renamed the WGC-Mexico Championship after the Tour, on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours, secured a seven-year sponsorship agreement with Grupo Salinas, a collection of companies based in Mexico City primarily involved in retail, television, telecommunications and other businesses. Cadillac ended its sponsorship of the event this year.

Doral has hosted a PGA Tour event since 1962.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, bought Trump National in 2012. Trump’s polarizing campaign and statements on Mexicans, Muslims and women have angered many people, including in the golf industry. Last December, the PGA Tour disavowed Trump, saying his comments about Mexicans “are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf.”

But PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said that had nothing to do with the decision.

“As we anticipated, some of the reaction revolves around the feeling that somehow this is a political exercise, and it is not that in any way, shape, or form. It is fundamentally a sponsorship issue,” Finchem said at Muirfield Village, home to this week’s Memorial. “We are a conservative organization. We value dollars for our players. We have a strong sense of fiduciary responsibility. So we make decisions that are in the best interests of our players, short term and long term.

“The decision made here was based on the reality that we were not able to secure sponsorship for next year's WGC at Doral or for out years for that matter. … So from a golf standpoint, we have no issues with Donald Trump. From a political standpoint, we are neutral. The PGA Tour has never been involved or cares to be involved in presidential politics. I had an involvement in presidential politics, but that was over 30 years ago, and this is not a political decision.”

The WGC-Mexico Championship will be held March 2-5 in 2017. Finchem said the Tour has narrowed the site of the tournament down to two venues. But according to Golf Channel, which cited unnamed sources inside the PGA Tour, the event will be played at Club de Golf Chapultepec near Mexico City.

Trump was the first to say such a move was coming during an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. Trump purchased Doral in 2012 and poured $250 million into renovations of the hotel and golf courses, including the famed “Blue Monster.” Trump told Hannity about the move to Mexico City and added, “by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance.”

On Wednesday, Trump voiced his displeasure for the PGA Tour’s decision.

“It is a sad day for Miami, the United States and the game of golf, to have the PGA Tour consider moving the World Golf Championships, which has been hosted in Miami for the last 55 years, to Mexico,” Trump said in a statement. “No different than Nabisco, Carrier and so many other American companies, the PGA Tour has put profit ahead of thousands of American jobs, millions of dollars in revenue for local communities and charities and the enjoyment of hundreds of thousands of fans who make the tournament an annual tradition. This decision only further embodies the very reason I am running for President of the United States.”

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Finchem said the Tour is cognizant of safety concerns.

“We'd like to think that, for a good number of years now, we take the cautious view, regardless of where we're playing around the planet, you have some areas are more prone to terrorism and other places that are more prone to theft, and some places where you have people being kidnapped in very dangerous parts of the world. But like every other country, Mexico has dangerous areas and non-dangerous areas.

"Obviously, we have some in the United States,” Finchem added. “When we look at Mexico, during my tenure, we have played, between us and the LPGA, we have played 70 events in Mexico … World Cup, Champions Tour events, dot.com or new PGA Tour Latino America. And of those 70 events, we've had two instances of issue. We haven’t had a pattern of difficulty. But we have been careful.”

Phil Mickelson said he has mixed feelings about the move.

“Because (Doral has) been a special place for the PGA Tour going back to the '60s, when it started,” Mickelson said. “But it also offers an opportunity to take a World Golf Championship event outside the United States to another part of the world and bring world class golf to Mexico City. So I think there could be some positives.”

Rory McIlroy agreed. “Well, they're called the World Golf Championship for a reason,” McIlroy said. “I always felt that having three of them in the United States wasn't really spreading the game. So I think that's good news, you're getting at least one of those outside the States. And it's not as if we haven't been going to Mexico before.”

McIlroy did say it was “quite ironic that we're going to Mexico after being at Doral.” And then tongue-in-cheek added, “We just jump over the wall,” a reference to Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stem what he terms out of control illegal immigration from Mexico.

“So I think it's a good move. I think it really is,” McIlroy said.