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President Donald Trump tees off during the opening ceremony for the Trump International Golf Links golf course, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\nPresident Donald Trump tees off during the opening ceremony for the Trump International Golf Links golf course, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/p>\n
One morning during Bill Clinton\u2019s presidency I got a call from my friend who works at the Pebble Beach golf course. Mr. Clinton was teeing off at 6:30, he said, and if I hurried over I could tag along.<\/p>\n
The golf was underwhelming. (More interesting was the choreography of Secret Service agents, zipping around in carts, with automatic weapons poking out of golf bags.) On the fourteenth fairway, the president had about 150 yards for his approach to the elevated green \u2014 one of the more challenging shots at Pebble. He shanked it badly into the trees on the right.<\/p>\n
Without hesitation, Mr. Clinton dropped another ball and thrashed at it again, rolling it barely 30 feet to the left. His caddie provided a third ball, which managed to find the putting surface.<\/p>\n
I have no idea what was written on the scorecard, if one was even kept that day. Mulligans weren\u2019t newsworthy in the judgment of a few pool reporters and me.<\/p>\n
I thought about that as I watched one of dozens of YouTube videos about Donald Trump\u2019s latest golf adventure, at his new course in Scotland. In one viral clip the president\u2019s two caddies appear to make a replacement ball magically appear.<\/p>\n
Personally, I care deeply about President Trump\u2019s policy decisions \u2014 many of which I disagree with. What I don\u2019t care about is his golf game or whether he \u201ccheats.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true that golf is a game of honor in which penalty strokes are often called by a player against himself. But in social situations where score doesn\u2019t count (unless it\u2019s being used to establish a handicap index), taking a do-over or \u201cBreakfast Ball,\u201d is fairly common. So is improving your lie \u2014 say, if the ball is near a root that could damage your club\u2014or declaring a ball lost and dropping another without penalty.<\/p>\n
The commentator Sam Stein told his 1.4 million YouTube subscribers that Mr. Trump\u2019s golf deception \u201csays a lot about him.\u201d The president\u2019s lack of golfing etiquette might be extreme, but it\u2019s foolish for his critics to seize upon that as proof of, well, anything. It makes them look desperate and petty.<\/p>\n
The sports writer Rick Reilly wrote an entire book back in 2019 called \u201cThe Commander in Cheat,\u201d in which he said \u201cgolf is like bicycle shorts. It says a lot about a man.\u201d It\u2019s a clever line, but it doesn\u2019t ring true to those of us who spend countless hours with otherwise upstanding buddies who fudge their golf scores regularly.<\/p>\n
\u2013<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 Peter Funt distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.<\/p>\n
Peter Funt\u2019s latest book is \u201cInside Fantasy Football.\u201d<\/p>\n
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