Trump, taking a break from White House prep, tees off with Tiger
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.: US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday took a break from preparing to take office to engage in a pastime beloved by presidents since Dwight Eisenhower: playing 18 holes of golf.
Trump, who made waves around the world this week with comments on nuclear arms and Middle East peace, was joined at Trump International Golf Club by Tiger Woods, a former world champion who is trying to make a comeback after chronic back problems and surgeries.
There was no word on the score, but the Republican businessman from New York is no duffer.
Golf Digest magazine expects he will be the best-ever Oval Office golfer when he takes office on Jan 20, with a “low single-digit handicap.”
A passion for the sport is one thing that Trump, who owns golf courses around the world, shares with Democratic President Barack Obama.
Obama golfed most Saturdays during his eight years in office, most often with friends and aides on the modest but secure Joint Base Andrews course near Washington.
He has occasionally played with other leaders, politicians and celebrities on prestigious courses - including, in 2013, Tiger Woods - and has tried to pack in as many rounds as he can during vacation.
Since arriving in Hawaii a week ago, Obama has spent three days golfing, tipping his hat at the press during a photo op on the 18th hole at Kapolei Golf Club on Wednesday.
As of late October, Obama had played 320 rounds of golf in office, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, the unofficial statistician of the White House.
Trump has slammed Obama for spending so much time on the greens, telling a rally in Michigan last year that Obama “played more golf last year than Tiger Woods.” — Reuters