Bryson DeChambeau, a Major champion, offers a unique take on the golf game through his YouTube series titled “Breaking 50”, featuring fellow professional and celebrity golfers. His achievement of scoring under 60 in the LIV tour this year resonated in the pro-golf leagues, but scoring under 50 is unheard of in real and fictional golf lore.
In an unexpected yet entirely fitting moment, DeChambeau’s recent collaborator was none other than Donald Trump. Traditional golf regulations were stretched for their adventurous quest at this elusive score. The match was held at New York’s Trump-owned course, Bedminster, where they used women’s tees to shorten the holes and played a better-ball scramble format. Thus, Trump got the benefit of playing from wherever DeChambeau’s ball was positioned.
The event had a humorous undertone reminiscent of the film Caddyshack. Trump mirrored the Chevy Chase character, Ty Webb, while DeChambeau, a long-term representative of the Trump golf resorts range, laid on flattery thick and fast.
When Trump managed a simple 200-yard drive, DeChambeau, a two-time US Open champion, lauded him as a “driving machine.” The 12th hole saw a comically short 210-yard par 4, where DeChambeau used a 7-iron with ease, and Trump required a full-force hit of his driver, which miraculously ended just four feet from the hole.
DeChambeau, taking sycophancy to new heights, praised Trump’s shot as one of the best he’d witnessed in recent times. Trump, nevertheless, was unphased.
In a daring editorial move, footage was produced showing the former president flubbing several shots from the centre of the fairway. He also portrayed fear while preparing for a chip 30 yards away from the green, opting to grab his putter as a substitute. On the green, he exhibited an unusual grip on his putter, likened to struggling with a serpent’s head, and his putt stroke came off as though he were hewing vegetables. Despite these quirks, an air of sophistication was maintained.
The conversation shifted during a leisurely ride in a golf cart, with DeChambeau inquiring about Trump’s love for golf. Trump, the convicted criminal, responded confidently, boasting about his supposed skill.
“For a person who rarely gets a chance to play, I think I do pretty well,” he asserted. “I’ve earned numerous club championships, successfully competing against those who play regularly. I maintain straight drives, achieve smooth greens in regulation, and putt well. This is where many players struggle.”
Trump’s habit of exaggerating his golf victories has been a characteristic part of his self-absorbed persona. As reported by Rick Reilly in his scathing and entertaining book, Commander in Cheat, Trump had deceitfully claimed no less than 18 club championships. Reilly was able to effectively debunk 16 of these claims in a thorough chapter, while the other two remained unverified.
However, none of this seems to bother Trump. Ever since the publication of Reilly’s insightful book five years ago, Trump hasn’t been deterred and continues to make these baseless declarations. Just last year, he bragged about being the victor in the club championship at Bedminster where he had a golf round with DeChambeau, alleging he scored an incredible 67.
This very club had held a LIV Golf tournament a fortnight prior, in which only six out of the 144 professional rounds scored lower than Trump’s claimed 67.
Earlier this year, he shared on Truth Social that he had won both the club championship and the senior club championship at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach – his first ever golf club, open for two and a half decades. Golf legend, Jack Nicklaus, was there to present the septuagenarian former president with an award for most improved player. In all his illustrious rumoured accomplishments, it was astonishing to see Trump still had room to get better in golf.
Nicklaus is among the rare golf insiders who continue to maintain ties with Trump. Nicklaus’s image was significantly tarnished when he passionately backed Trump on the eve of the 2020 elections, a move seemingly triggered by a call from then vice-president, Mike Pence.
Interestingly, the year before saw Trump channel $20 million of state funds into a mobile children’s hospital initiative Nicklaus wholeheartedly supported, after Nicklaus had implored Trump’s support. His endorsement in the poll appeared to be a return favour. Just last April, at the Masters, Nicklaus did not discount the possibility of yet again backing Trump.
However, Trump’s recent interactions with the higher echelons of golf have proven extremely tense. Bedminster was due to be the venue of the PGA Championship 2022 – one of the world’s major golf tournaments. But after the Capitol Hill mayhem in January 2021, the PGA of America rapidly reversed that decision.
Turnberry in Scotland, reputed as one of the best links courses worldwide, did not host the Open after Trump acquired the club a decade ago. The prestigious Royal and Ancient stated firmly that only when coverage of Turnberry returned to the golf and the championship itself, would they consider hosting any championships on the course. Essentially, this means not while Trump is in charge.
Trump claimed last year that the DP World Tour had shown interest in hosting the Irish Open at Doonbeg, his links course in Clare, although this interest has not been clarified. From his 11 American golf courses, none has hosted a PGA Tour event since 2016, a connection severed during his initial election run and yet to be re-established. On their part, the PGA Tour rebuffed the notion that this was a calculated political move.
In the face of this, the European Seniors Tour has recently managed to stage events at Trump’s Aberdeen course, disregarding the environmental havoc Trump has wreaked on the location, to the chagrin of locals and the Scottish government. Currently, his only significant supporters in pro golf are the Saudis.
In the past three years, Trump’s American courses have hosted six LIV Golf events, and the Saudis have also financially backed a course Trump is planning in Oman, initially doling out $5.4 million as a licensing fee.
Whether or not Trump’s golf resorts are financially profitable is a matter of perspective. When he was required to disclose his finances in 2016 as a presidential nominee, Trump estimated the worth of each of his courses at $50 million. However, experts in the field considered these valuations exaggerated, believing that even Trump’s best golf courses might sell for more than $20 million but not quite reach $30 million.
In a 2020 inquiry, the New York Times deduced that Trump’s golf courses had incurred losses over two decades amounting to $315 million. Further research by the same outlet the following year uncovered surges in earnings at some of Trump’s golf facilities, based on court-filed figures. The joining fees at two of Trump’s Florida golf courses have reportedly risen to about $400,000.
Trump’s zest for golf hasn’t waned over the years, moreover, it has served as a favourable conduit for his perennial longing for victory, boasting, and deceit.
At Winged Foot, the only golf club where Trump is a member excluding his own clubs, the caddies nicknamed him “Pele” for his frequent habit of kicking his ball out of difficult spots.
In a narrative from Mike Tirico, a sports presenter, recounted in Reilly’s book, he describes an incident where Trump deliberately swatted Tirico’s ball into a sand trap during a game. Tirico was taken aback when his ball ended up in the sand after a superb shot on a par-5, and it was revealed post-play that the ball had been deliberately relocated by Trump.
Reilly pointedly wrote, “No president has been as sunk in golf as Donald Trump….Trump doesn’t just enjoy the sport; he invests in the golf industry by constructing courses, acquiring them, managing them, though also has a history of litigations surrounding them and boasting about them.”
Trump, before his 2016 election, frequently chastised Barack Obama for the amount of golf he played during his tenure.
Claiming Obama to have unexpectedly maxed out time on the golf course, Trump stated, “I think he’s played 300 rounds of golf, or something like that, exceeding many of the players on the PGA Tour. I will not have such leisure time for golf once I am in office.”
In his third week in post, Trump made a trip to his luxurious Florida retreat, Mar-a-Lago, where he played golf both Saturday and Sunday. The subsequent two weekends mirrored this schedule. The Washington Post meticulously tracked Trump’s daily activities throughout his presidency and established that he had participated in 261 golf games during his tenure, averaging a game every 5.6 days. Obama, in his two terms, played 333 golf rounds, an average of one game approximately every 8.8 days.
However, was it really a problem? How much chaos could Trump stir up while he was absorbed in a golf game?
In their YouTube series, Trump and DeChambeau ended up scoring 50, falling short of the title expectations. The former president queried the US Open champion, “This is your lowest score, isn’t it?” DeChambeau, put on the spot, couldn’t explicitly give the whole truth, but he couldn’t lie either. Earlier in the series, he had scored 50 with an influencer whom Trump was unaware of. The look on Trump’s face was priceless.