& # 039; "Saying Donald Trump cheats" is the same as saying "Michael Phelps is swimming" & # 039;
President Trump during a round of golf on Trump Turnberry in Scotland in 2018
"To say that & # 39; Donald Trump cheats & # 39; is like saying & # 39; Michael Phelps is swimming & # 39 ;."
That is the claim made by former columnist Rick of Sports Illustrated Reilly, who wrote a book titled & # 39; Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump & # 39 ;.
The US president is often seen on golf courses, flanked by buggies full of secret service workers, and he owns 14 his own clubs – including Trump Turnberry in Scotland.
But should you ever notice that you share a round with the president – yes, the chances are small – watch your back, Reilly says.
"He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people watch and he cheats when they are not," he says in the book to be released this week.
"He cheats whether you like it or not, he cheats because he plays golf so … if you play golf with him, he cheats."
Golf is a sport in which players routinely demand penalties for themselves, or ask for statements from officials or players play in the amateur ranks.
Reilly has spoken with various players, both professional and amateur, who have shared a course with Trump. Rocker Alice Cooper and former boxer Oscar De La Hoya have also spoken out earlier.
Others have also questioned the president's sportiness – or the alleged lack of it – in the past.
"We have clearly seen he hooked a ball into a lake at Trump National [in Bedminster, New Jersey] and his caddy told him he had found it," Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson said in an interview in 2016
LPGA professional Suzann Pettersen has Trump & # 39; s caddy and Private tactics as well.
"No matter how deep he hits the ball in the forest, it is in the middle of the fairway when we get there," she told a Norwegian newspaper last year.
According to Reilly, Trump also rejects traditional golf traditions – he never picks up his cap for a handshake or takes it off at the clubhouse. He even drives his buggy on the green.
Trump is a good golfer in every way. He claims to have a handicap of 2.8.
That is a lower handicap than the 18-fold big winner Jack Nicklaus, seven years older than he, who rejects a handicap of 3.4.
"If Trump is a 2.8, Queen Elizabeth is a pole vaulter," Reilly says.
Trump has always denied cheating when his sport ethics are questioned, even when Reilly spoke out as part of a Washington Post investigation into his alleged playmanship in 2015.
& # 39; I always thought he was a terrible writer, & # 39; said Trump. "I would say he is a very unfair writer."