You have to see it to believe it. And thanks to his appearance on US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau’s wildly popular YouTube channel, 12 million golf fans around the world have seen Donald Trump’s golf swing in action. There’s been no respite from the memes and analyses of the US President elect’s golf swing after he appeared on DeChambeau’s Break 50 video series earlier this year. Going by the number of comments online, most experts point out Trump’s seemingly unorthodox moves: he pulls the club way inside and under the swing plane on the backswing, then makes the dreaded over-the-top move on the way down, but still manages to clear his hips quickly enough to drop the club into the slot and hit it straight down the middle, and fairly long to boot. And in true Trumpian fashion, he does it with a nonchalance that has come to define his public demeanour.
Cast whatever aspersions you like on the validity of his handicap (2.5, according to USGA records), there’s no debate on the calibre of Trump’s game. DeChambeau wasn’t the only one dumbfounded by how well Trump hit the ball; his technique is unorthodox but it’s well grooved and Trump appears to be able to repeat it on demand. “His driver swing is the most repeatable thing I have ever seen,” DeChambeau told Golf.com. “I wish mine was that repeatable. Really, I do.” High praise, even if more than a bit magnanimous, from the US Open champ.
It’s rational to assume that the evolution of the golf swing, or for that matter golf instruction, has been linear. But a number of current-day players—DeChambeau more than anyone else—have thrown modern golf instruction out of the window and returned to some classic moves. In fact both DeChambeau—with his unfettered hip turn on the backswing, and Trump—with that inside backswing path—have elements in their golf swings that are reminiscent of some one of the game’s most prolific ball strikers from the past. From Bobby Jones in the early 20th century, to Sam Snead in the 1960s, there’s no dearth of great players who’ve dragged the club inside and then swung over-the-top to great effect. In today’s game, world No.1 Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, and Brooks Koepka, are great examples of players who do not swing down “from the inside”.
But I digress. Despite the oversized role that the game plays in golfers’ lives, most of us weren’t prepared for how often golf made news against the context of the recently concluded US elections. During the first presidential debate, Trump spoke about recently winning two club championships and added that…“...To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way,” and added that Jo Biden, “...can’t hit a ball 50 yards.” President Biden, not one to take an affront to his golfing abilities lying down, challenged Trump to a game, provided the latter carry his own clubs. Not to be outdone, Trump offered Biden 10 strokes a side, and pledged $1 million to a charity of the President’s choice should he lose. Given the potential entertainment value of this presidential match-up, it’s a shame that the game never materialised.
While Biden hasn’t been playing regularly, Trump managed to find time to tee it up even during the election campaign. His love for the game took a dark turn when Secret Service agents noticed a rifle poking out of the bushes at a Florida golf course while Trump was on the course. The man was later apprehended and charged. According to news reports, golf courses are a nightmare for the US Secret Service to secure; in light of the threat to his life Trump has, somewhat unwillingly one must presume, acquiesced to not playing another round before he takes office.
For the record, Biden’s official handicap is 6.7 (USGA; July 2018) while Trump’s handicap was last recorded as 2.5 (USGA, June 2021). For those who don’t understand golf, handicaps represent golfing abilities and scoring averages: these numbers put both gents in the top 10% of all golfers, and, possibly, the best players to ever practise on the White House putting green. Starting with William Taft over a century back, 16 of 19 US Presidents have played golf. The putting green was built by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954 and moved to the Rose Garden by President Bill Clinton. Eisenhower was a prodigious golfer, racking up close to more than 800 rounds during his time in office. John F. Kennedy was part of the Harvard golf team and played to a single handicap. George Bush (Sr.) was so quick that he reportedly played a round in just under two hours and Barack Obama’s personalised golf balls that have “POTUS” inscribed on them, are much sought by collectors.
But Trump is in a different league. Unlike most US Presidents before him, Trump did not exit his business interests when he became President in 2016. He owns a number of golf courses and resorts that have hosted major events on professional tours. In 2015, Trump landed up at Turnberry during the Ricoh Women’s Open and took the attention away from the event by inviting the media to his hotel near the course to continue his presidential campaign. Turnberry has been blackballed by the Royal & Ancient—the governing body for golf that organises the Open Championships—ever since. That might change with Trump’s re-election in 2024. Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund-backed LIV Golf has hosted five events at courses—Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and Trump National Doral—owned by Trump over the past couple of years.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf rivalry upended the world of professional golf ever since scores of top players were enticed by the new tour that offered the players unheard of sums as signing bonuses. That schism has not been bridged despite the two tours announcing their intent in June 2023, to create a “framework agreement”, that would merge their commercial operations. While the negotiations drag on, Trump has now offered his services to play mediator. “I do think we should have one tour (and) I think it’ll come together. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done,” he said modestly.
Earlier this month, at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a scribe asked Rory McIlroy what he thought about Trump’s chances to get the job done. “He might be able to (get it done). He’s got Elon Musk, who I think is the smartest man in the world, beside him…But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows?” McIlroy said while adding that, “I think as the President of the United States again, he’s probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.” Perhaps, but considering that Trump reportedly played 261 rounds during his first term in office, golf is certainly on the agenda. As with everything else concerning the President elect, we’ll just have to wait and watch.
Meraj Shah is a Delhi-based writer, golfer and television producer.
