Trump deflects as McIlroy vows not to tee it up with him again

DONALD TRUMP has responded to Rory McIlroy’s vow to never play golf with the US President again after his response to the Covid-19 crisis, saying some professional golfers liked his policies and others did not.

Trump commented while phoning in to TV coverage as McIlroy and three other golfers competed in the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins tournament in Florida on Sunday, which raised more than $5million for coronavirus charities.

McIlroy caused controversy last Thursday by saying while he had played with the golf-loving Trump in the past and enjoyed it, he would not play with the president again due to his politicising of the pandemic.

“We’re in the midst of something that’s pretty serious right now and the fact that he’s trying to politicise it and make it a campaign rally and say we’re administering the most tests in (the) world like it is a contest – there’s something that just is terrible,” the Holywood golfer said on the McKellar Golf podcast.

“It’s not the way a leader should act. I don’t know if he’d want to play with me again after what I just said, but I wouldn’t (play with him again).”

Trump, alleged to habitually cheat at golf in the 2019 book ‘Commander In Cheat’ by Rick Reilly, phoned in to NBC’s coverage of the skins event.

Asked about McIlroy’s comments, he said: “A lot of them (golfers) are very political, actually. A lot of them like my politics very much and some don’t, I guess. The ones that don’t I don’t get to see as much.”

World No 1 McIlroy teamed up with Dustin Johnson against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in Sunday’s charity event at Seminole GC. McIlroy and Johnson won by claiming a $1.1 million (€1m) skin through a nearest-the-pin challenge on a par-three tiebreaker hole, as McIlroy hit his tee-shot to within 10 feet.

The pair raised $2,075,000 (€1.9m), Fowler and Wolff ended with $1,150,000 (€1,050,000). Adding in viewer donations, the event raised $5,503,959 (€5,003,000m).