It’s official – Trump is a golf cheat
By Alex Perry
You may remember from a previous episode of The Slam when Rory McIlroy played a round of golf with Donald Trump – and I begged him to give us the truth about his game.
Well we had to wait a while, but Suzann Pettersen has come good.
“He cheats like hell,” the two-time major champion told a Norwegian newspaper before really piling in, saying Trump must pay his caddie well because he smacks his ball into the woods and yet it’s always in the middle of the fairway when they get down there.
Remember when McIlroy bottled it by simply describing Trump as a “good golfer for his age”? No such concern for Pettersen.
“What’s strange,” she adds, “is that he has never come close to breaking 80 when I’ve played with him, but whenever I talk to him he says he’s just shot 69, or broken a course record, or won a club championship.”
Well, you know what they say about people who cheat at golf. And if any American who understands golf is still behind him to run the country, then they don’t know golf.
Lonely Day
Jason Day is back in the winners’ circle after an epic play-off win over Alex Noren at Torrey Pines.
The play-off finished on Monday in front of no one but the watching cameras – which made Day saluting the bleachers quite a bizarre spectacle.
It’s like when you were at school playing football and you’re doing knee slides in the corner while your mates carry on playing behind you.
The win was even more impressive given Day had pulled out of the pro-am on Wednesday with a bad back, but the tournament was marred by its lengthy rounds.
From Day teeing off on the 1st hole of his final round to the play-off being suspended was more than 8 hours. A whole working day to play 23 holes – and he didn’t even get a lunch break.
And then there was JB Holmes taking four minutes and 10 seconds to play a single shot. He was basically standing there waiting for the wind to die off – he then hit the worst lay-up you’ve probably ever seen.
But his dawdling led to Noren switching from a hybrid to a fairway wood then almost comically overshooting the green – a shot that ultimately cost him the title.
Look, I can see both sides. On one hand I understand that there is so much riding on it. On the other hand, it’s horrendous sportsmanship.
I know four minutes doesn’t seem a long time, but for a golf shot it’s an eternity. Like when you’re waiting four minutes for your lunch to heat up in a microwave.
Think of all the things you could do in four minutes…
Phoenix fun
And at the time of writing, we have had one round of the Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale and there is already so much going on.
First there was the streaker at the famous 16th…
Your prize… A FREE NIGHT IN JAIL! pic.twitter.com/z91hsgoXnH
— Skratch (@Skratch) February 1, 2018
And then this happened…
Hey, it can happen to anyone.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/x4lL04oBFx
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 1, 2018
But this tournament for me is now synonymous with Phil Mickelson’s lipped-out putt for a 59…
Five years ago today, Phil shot 59.5 at the Phoenix Open and Bones just could not handle it. pic.twitter.com/ICTT3ZsK9x
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) February 1, 2018
I’ve watched that clip a hundred times and each time I see something different. Just in case you were looking for something to do to waste half an hour today…
‘I was a hazard to my fellow golfers – if I did practise it would be in solitude’
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Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
