Donald Trump recalled the tips and tricks golf legend Gary Player offered him to help improve his game.
The former president, 78, teed it up with US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau in a YouTube challenge released Tuesday.
As Trump and the LIV golfer embarked on their conquest to score a round under 50, the presidential candidate revealed Player had given him a piece of advice to better navigate the fairways.
As Trump stood on the tee box on a par-three at his Bedminster golf course, he admitted the South African golfer had once corrected a fatal error he had been making when teeing off on the shorter holes.
‘”President! President,” he [Player] said – you know he’s very intense,’ Trump began regaling, ‘”What are you doing?”
Donald Trump (L) recalled the tips and tricks golf legend Gary Player (R) offered him
‘Because I always teed it level with the ground,’ Trump went on, referencing the height of his tee peg when hitting an iron shot.
‘The reason for a tee on a par-three is because you have to lift it up a little bit off the ground. I never heard that before. I always thought bad players did that, in all the years I’ve played.
‘I always had it level. He said, “What’s the purpose of that?”‘
Nine-time major winner Player has previously played with Trump on occasion, including as recently as May at Trump International Palm Beach Golf Club.
Trump also awarded the South African the Presidential Medal of Freedom towards the end of his term in 2021.
Player, along with women’s golf legend Annika Sorenstam, attended the White House on January 7, 2021 to receive the honor – just one day after Trump encouraged his supporters to never accept defeat before hundreds of them stormed the US Capitol.
Player’s acceptance of the award, especially during the tense political climate of the time, triggered a lot of backlash, including from his own son.
‘I wish my father would simply & politely decline this ‘award’ at this time. Tone deaf. In denial. Wrong!!’ Marc Player, Gary’s oldest son, tweeted in response to a story about the honor.
The former President made the revelation during a YouTube video with Bryson DeChambeau
Trump is known to be an avid golfer, playing off a handicap of 2.5, and reportedly teed off every 6.3 days during his term in the Oval Office.
However, during Tuesday’s video, he further revealed the extent of his alleged golf prowess.
Trump claimed he had made a grand total of eight holes-in-one throughout his life with his latest reportedly coming in front of another golf icon – Ernie Els.
Trump’s participation in DeChambeau’s ‘Break 50’ series comes after he and President Joe Biden, who has since dropped out of the Presidential race, descended into handicap trash talk during last month’s debate.
The debate teetered off the rails as the two elderly candidates traded jabs about each other’s golf games after they answered questions from CNN moderator Dana Bash about concerns over their age.
Their bickering descended into Trump and Biden, 81, engaging in a standoff over their handicaps.
Following the bizarre exchange of barbs, DeChambeau, who prevailed at Pinehurst No. 2, offered a solution to settle the debate – golfing, not Presidential – once and for all.
The former President and American professional golfer are no strangers to one another
Biden did not take the two-time major winner up on his offer of a duel around the fairways with Trump. However, his opponent did accept a round with DeChambeau, seemingly filming the episode before Biden dropped out of the race.
During their round, Trump explained why he enjoyed the traditional sport, saying: ‘I just find it very relaxing.
‘I play it well you know for a guy who plays as little as I do I’ve won so many club championships. I play against guys who play all the time. I hit it straight. I putt well.
‘It takes everything off your brain.’