Former President Donald Trump has made plenty of bold claims about his achievements in the game of golf over the years — and he offered another one on Thursday when he claimed he’s made seven holes-in-one during his life.
It’s a remarkable number. Rory McIlroy has apparently made just two holes-in-one in his professional golf career, one on the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in 2015 and one on Thursday at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.
When it comes to world leaders, however, Mr Trump does not yet have the field beat. According to official accounts, Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea, shot 11 holes-in-one in a single round during his first ever golf game at the Pyongyang Golf Course in 1994.
Still, seven holes-in-one is no small accomplishment — and it’s not the first time Mr Trump has claimed it.
Last year, Mr Trump also told Piers Morgan that he’d shot seven holes-in-one. That interview came just weeks after Mr Trump posed with a group including former PGA Tour professional Ernie Els after supposedly shooting a hole-in-one at a course in Commerce, Georgia.
The dates of Mr Trump’s other supposed holes-in-one are less clear, but there is no question that the former president is an avid golfer. He owns courses in multiple countries and plays frequently, a habit that he continued even while serving his four years as president.
But Mr Trump has also long been dogged by allegations that he cheats at golf. The former Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly in 2019 published a book titled Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump that delves into the former president’s relationship with the game.
“Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf,” Reilly writes. “He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs. At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: ‘Pele.’”
The former president is known to be a golf fanatic – but has been accused of not always playing fair— (Getty Images)
Reilly also claims that Mr Trump’s boast that he has won 18 club championships in his life — made a decade ago to Mark Cuban — is a lie. Reilly has said that whenever the former president has opened a new golf club he plays the first club championship by himself and declares himself the winner.
“Donald’s Trump’s boast about winning 18 club championships is a lie that’s so over-the-top Crazytown it loses all credibility among golfers the second it’s out of his mouth,” Reilly wrote.
Mr Trump has bigger issues to deal with than his golf record. He’s running for president again, this time under federal indictment for mishandling classified documents.
