All the times Donald Trump has been accused of cheating at golf
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A questionable drop in Donald Trump’s latest round has reignited the debate about his golf ethics – but, according to one sportswriter, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s bent the rules on the course.
If you think Scottie Scheffler is having a good year, just wait until you hear Donald Trump’s win rate.
The 79-year-old President of the United States has – according to him, at least – won five golf championships since his inauguration in January.
That’s right. Five titles in just over six months. Not bad for a man who also happens to be running a country (kind of).
But, as always, there are question marks around Trump’s many supposed golfing feats.
And those doubts only grew louder after a video from his latest round appeared to show Trump’s caddie subtly dropping a new ball after the President sprayed one offline.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Trump’s been accused of some creative scorekeeping. In fact, there’s an entire book about it.
Written by American sportswriter Rick Reilly, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump dives into the dodgy on-course behavior of the world’s most controversial golf nut.
So let’s take a look at what it says about Donald Trump the golfer.
Donald Trump’s golf handicap may be a bit iffy
Donald Trump having a reported handicap of 2.8 would be extremely impressive for a man in his 80th year – a bit too impressive, says Commander In Cheat author Rick Reilly.
“Someone with Trump’s handicap typically would shoot scores about three-over par,” he writes. “Despite making more than 150 visits to his golf courses since taking office, Trump has logged only one round in the online USGA Handicap Index — and a 96 at that.”
Donald Trump has been accused of kicking his golf ball
Reilly’s book quotes a number of players who accuse The President, his caddie, and a variety of Secret Service agents of regularly moving his golf balls from difficult lies.
At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, Reilly notes, “The caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: Pele.”
Trump denies this. “I never touch the ball,” he says.
Donald Trump may not be the golf champion he claims he is
Reilly claims to have written this book because of what he refers to as Trump’s “whopper” – the often-repeated claim that he had won (at the time of publishing) 18 club championships. Reilly discredits 16 of those and calls the other two into question.
Trump is not a good loser
In the 2007 Westchester Men’s Club Championship, Trump was knocked out in the first round by a 15-year-old named Adam Levin.
Trump was four up with five to play, having pulled two harsh loss-of-hole violations on his teenage opponent. He turned to the small gallery watching and remarked, “The kid put up a good fight, didn’t he?” Fired up, Levin rallied, won hole after hole, and prevailed in a playoff.
“He didn’t even say ‘Congratulations’ or ‘Good match’,” recalls the victor. “He’s a total asshole with no character.”
He employs the “Trump bump”
Fact-checkers at The Washington Post documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during Trump’s first presidential term, an average of 21 per day. So is it any wonder the golf scores he states may also be subject to some question?
“[Trump] may wrap up a very sketchy 77 at noon,” says Reilly. “On the ride home, it’ll be 75. By dinner, 72.”
And it’s not just his own scores Trump has been known to fiddle…
Lee Trevino ran into Trump after shooting 72 on one of his courses.
“Trump is delighted and wants to start introducing the legend around his clubhouse,” writes Reilly. “’This is the great Lee Trevino. He just shot a 70!’ For the next person, it was: ‘You know who this is? Lee Trevino. He just shot a 68!’ Then it became a 66.
“Trevino himself recalls: ‘I had to get out of there before I broke the course record’.”
Donald Trump doesn’t like paying up his golf bets
According to Reilly, the billionaire President begrudges paying up when he loses on-course wagers, no matter how insignificant the bet.
“I beat him out of $10,” says LA Times writer Sam Farmer, quoted in the book. “He handed me two fives, but they wouldn’t quite come out of his hand. He held on to them and made me pull. I thought they were going to rip. When I finally got them, he goes, ‘It’s alright. I’ve got a supermodel girlfriend and my own [Boeing] 727, so I’m OK’.”
By bestselling author Rick Reilly
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