New book outs Trump as golf cheat
Former sports writer Rick Reilly interviewed dozens of the US president's former golf partners for the full story.
US President Donald Trump said he remains optimistic about a trade deal with China, but officials said he could walk away from negotiations as he did with North Korea. AFP/MANDEL NGAN
In a new book titled Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, an American sportswriter has damned US President Donald Trump as one of the worst golf cheats he has ever met.
Sports writer Rick Reilly, who played a round with Trump before the billionaire entered politics, said Trump lied about his score, claimed second attempts at a shot for no good reason, and took credit for other players’ shots.
Reilly also interviewed former professional golfers and celebrities for his book and wrote: “To say ‘Donald Trump cheats’ is like saying ‘Michael Phelps swims’.
“He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf … if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”
Trump’s cheating begins with his handicap — a number that is generated based on a player’s average score, ostensibly to allow players of different abilities to compete against one another. And, theoretically, the lower a player’s handicap, the better the player they are. For example, the Post points out, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus had a handicap of 3.4, higher (and therefore worse) than the 2.8 handicap Trump claims.
Even Samuel L. Jackson has witnessed our president’s cheating ways: “We clearly saw him hook a ball into a lake at Trump National [Bedminster, New Jersey], and his caddy told him he found it!”
Shortly after he became president, Trump played with Tiger Woods, the current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, and veteran PGA Tour pro Brad Faxon.
Instead of curtailing his cheating in respect for the quality of his opposition, witnesses said: “On one hole, Trump dunked a shot into the lake, but as his opponents weren’t looking he simply dropped another ball and then hit that into the water, too.”
Faxon recalled: “So he drives up and drops where he should’ve dropped the first time and hits it on the green.”
Boxer Oscar De La Hoya and rocker Alice Cooper have also seen the same shenanigans first hand, while LPGA player Suzann Pettersen, another victim, thinks it’s all down to his caddy “since no matter how far into the woods he hits the ball, it’s in the middle of the fairway when we get there”.
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