Trump is just as bad for golf as he is for democracy
The tragic and unsettling events at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., last week caused me some pause.
It finally felt like America was slapped in the face hard enough to see their president for the man he is.
Circling around this firestorm of insurrection were a number of Trump golf-related announcements that just seemed so … well … disappointing, and in one case, appropriate.
The one that seemed to elicit a bigger reaction from the president than anything else, including the Capitol building being ransacked and the possibility of a second impeachment trial, was the PGA of America deciding to sever ties with him by taking the 2022 PGA Championship, one of golf’s four majors, away from his club, Trump National Bedminster.
It is ironic that, after all this guy has inflicted on his country and the world, the one post-riot fallout that seems to have landed the biggest kick to his groin was the loss of a major golf championship coming to his own course.
His reaction speaks volumes, calling attention to how many of his misdeeds over the past four decades have actually been without any personal repercussions.
This one hit home for him. It is said he has pumped millions of dollars into upgrading his Bedminster course to make it major-worthy. That’s too bad.
Then there was Jack Nicklaus’s official endorsement of him a couple of days before the election.
In a letter shared on Nicklaus’s Twitter feed, the greatest golfer of all time penned a letter announcing he had already cast his vote for Trump and encouraged others who value the pursuit of “the American dream” to do likewise.
It wasn’t a surprise to me Nicklaus was a staunch Republican, as the PGA Tour and its players have long been known to be solidly red, but it was the words Jack chose in his letter. “You may not like the way our president says or tweets some things … but I have learned to look past that and focus on what he’s tried to accomplish.”
I simply don’t understand when it became OK to not only say what you want to, but to consistently use language that is hurtful, racist, sexist and, in an increasing number of cases, like last week, openly plead with your most loyal disciples to be violent thieves and storm the very symbol of what you say is so great about your country.
Were you able to look past that Jack? Maybe I need to stop relying on my childhood heroes to be anything more than prolific hoisters of championship trophies.
I detest how he has chosen to squeeze 150 rounds of golf per year into a presidency that requires even the smartest, most efficient leader to be fully engaged as much as humanly possible.
Trump is a big, white, pudgy symbol of the kind of golf the world is trying hard to move away from — privileged, selfish and cut off from the real world.
Golf has made strides the past few years in terms of access, time commitment, affordability. It remains outside sporting mainstream but it is moving in the right direction. I am embarrassed to think Trump and I love the same sport.
Rick Reilly, the former Sports Illustrated columnist and hardcore golf fan, wrote a book that goes deep on Trump’s cheating at golf. It’s titled “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.” When asked if he’s joined the resistance in coming out so much against his president, Reilly said, “No, because I don’t know enough about politics. … But I know about golf. And what he’s doing is leaving a big, orange f$%# splotch on my game.”
Let the cleanup begin.