“It’s not that I wouldn’t cheat. But you can’t move the ball.”
Donald Trump dropped the line at the US Ambassador’s Deerfield Residence in Dublin on Saturday 12 September, in a speech to business leaders and embassy staff, a day before he presented the trophy at the Amgen Irish Open at his own resort in Doonbeg.
He was recounting a round with, in his words, the head of “the biggest company in the world”, when the group asked whether he cheats on the course.
“They said, does Trump cheat? I can’t cheat, you have 250 Secret Service agents running around. It’s not that I wouldn’t cheat, but you can’t move the ball. I don’t know if they play or not, but they know you’re not supposed to be moving the ball around, OK?”
Reilly’s 2019 book named names
The line played on years of published accusations. Sportswriter Rick Reilly’s 2019 book “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump” collected accounts from caddies and playing partners describing how Trump allegedly moves his ball, improves his lie and adjusts his score. Caddies at Winged Foot in New York, according to the book, nicknamed him “Pele” for kicking the ball back onto the fairway.
Trump has kept adding to his own trophy cabinet in the meantime. On 2 August, aged 80, he claimed his 43rd club championship, winning the Senior Club Championship at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with a two-under 70. That scorecard, too, has been questioned online.
The tournament that brought him to Doonbeg ended without any drama the following day. Shane Lowry ran away with the Amgen Irish Open by a record 11 shots from Joaquin Niemann and Patrick Reed, and Trump presented him with the trophy.
Read also: LeBron James and Kevin Hart line up unexpected showdown as talks reach final stage
Read also: Chael Sonnen eats humble pie: 'We got it wrong' on Aspinall's eye injury
