Donald Trump recalled the tips and tricks golf legend Gary Player offered him to help improve his game.
The 78-year-old former president took on US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau in a YouTube challenge posted Tuesday.
As Trump and the LIV golfer embarked on their quest to achieve a sub-50 round, the presidential candidate revealed that Player had given him some advice on better navigating the fairways.
Standing on the tee box of a par three at his Bedminster golf course, Trump admitted that the South African golfer had once corrected a fatal mistake he had been making when playing shorter holes.
“President, President,” he said, “you know it’s very intense,” Trump began in the video, which was filmed during the first week of July, “What are you doing?”
Donald Trump (left) recalled the tips and tricks offered to him by golf legend Gary Player (right)
“Because I always tee the ball up,” Trump continued, referring to the height of his tee when he hits an iron.
‘The reason you use a tee on a par three is because you have to lift it off the ground a little bit. I’d never heard that before. I always thought bad players did that, in all the years I’ve played.
“I always had it level. He said, ‘What’s that for?'”
Player, a nine-time major winner, has played with Trump on a few occasions before, including most recently in May at Trump International Palm Beach Golf Club.
Trump also awarded the South African the Presidential Medal of Freedom toward the end of his term in 2021.
The player, along with women’s golf legend Annika Sorenstam, attended the White House on January 7, 2021 to receive the honor, just a day after Trump encouraged his supporters to never accept defeat before hundreds of them stormed the U.S. Capitol.
The player’s acceptance of the award, especially during the tense political climate of the time, triggered many negative reactions, including from his own son.
“I wish my dad would just politely decline this ‘award’ right now. He’s tone deaf. He’s in denial. Wrong!!,” tweeted Marc Player, Gary’s oldest son, in response to a story about the honor.
The former president made the revelation during a YouTube video with Bryson DeChambeau
Trump is known to be an avid golfer, playing to a 2.5 handicap and reportedly playing every 6.3 days during his tenure in the Oval Office.
But during Tuesday’s video, which was filmed before Trump’s assassination attempt and Biden’s decision not to run for reelection, he further revealed the extent of his alleged golf prowess.
Trump claimed he had made a total of eight holes-in-one throughout his life, with his last reportedly coming against another golf icon: Ernie Els.
Trump’s participation in DeChambeau’s “Break 50” series comes after he and President Joe Biden, who has since dropped out of the presidential race, began badmouthing disability during last month’s debate.
The debate spiraled out of control when the two older candidates exchanged barbs about their respective golf games after answering questions from CNN moderator Dana Bash about concerns about their ages.
Their disputes culminated in a confrontation between Trump and Biden, 81, over his disabilities.
After the awkward exchange of barbs, DeChambeau, who won at Pinehurst No. 2, offered a solution to settle the debate (golf, not presidential) once and for all.
The former president and the American professional golfer are no strangers to each other.
Biden did not accept the two-time major winner’s offer to duel Trump. His opponent did, however, agree to a round with DeChambeau, apparently filming the episode before Biden dropped out of the race.
During his round, Trump explained why he enjoyed the traditional sport: “I just find it very relaxing.”
‘I play well, you know, for a guy who plays as little as I do, I’ve won a lot of club championships. I play against guys who play all the time. I hit it straight and I make a good putt.
“It takes everything off your shoulders.”
