Donald Trump Accused Of Cheating At Golf: Trump Says ‘I Don’t Need To’
As Donald Trump’s ratings continue to soar in the presidential polls, so too do the attacks that keep coming from those critical of the real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate.
But the latest accusation leveled at Trump isn’t that he’s a racist, misogynist, or even that he hates puppies and children. It’s that he cheats at golf.
As the owner of several top golf courses, including one that was to host ESPN’s celebrity golf tourney before comments made by Trump regarding some illegal immigrants ixnayed that agreement, the Donald is “by all accounts… a very good golfer,” who knows his way around the fairways and greens. But a cheat?
According to a Washington Post “investigation,” which gathered testimony from ex-Sports Illustrated editor Mark Mulvoy, entertainer Alice Cooper, and writer Rick Reilly, when out on the links Donald Trump cheats at golf by doing stuff like moving balls, “raking” balls into the hole instead of properly putting, and once took a “gimme” on a chip shot.
The three Donald Trump-cheats-at-golf episodes were culled from the last 20 or so years: Mulvoy’s from the “mid-1990s,” Alice Cooper’s from a 2012 interview with Q magazine, and Reilly’s from his 2004 book, Who’s Your Caddy?
As for Donald Trump’s reactions to the three accusing him of cheating at golf, Donald said he doesn’t even know Mulvoy, has never played golf with Alice Cooper, and Reilly is a “very dishonest writer” that he “killed” in golf, according to Business Insider.
But according to Mulvoy, he was playing a round of golf with Donald Trump back in the ’90s when it started to rain. The group took shelter until the rain passed then returned to the green where Mulvoy says a mysteriously well-placed ball had appeared that wasn’t there before.
“Who the hell’s ball is this?,” Mulvoy says he exclaimed.
“That’s me,” said Donald Trump, according to Mulvoy.
“Donald, give me a f**king break,” Mulvoy recalls telling him. “You’ve been hacking away in the (weeds) all day. You do not lie there.”
“Ahh, the guys I play with cheat all the time,” said Donald Trump, as per Mulvoy. “I have to cheat just to keep up with them.”
But again, in a case of “he said, he said,” Trump replied to Mulvoy’s tale by saying, “I don’t even know who he is. I don’t drop balls, I don’t move balls. I don’t need to.”
Alice Cooper didn’t get into any specifics, but when asked in the 2012 interview who he thought the “worst celebrity golf cheat” was, the musical icon said, “I wish I could tell you that. It would be a shocker. I played with Donald Trump one time. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Trumps’s response, along with claiming he’d “never played with Alice Cooper,” also noted that Cooper’s words stung a little, Donald saying, “That’s a terrible thing to say about people, especially me.”
The most scathing report of Donald Trump cheating in golf, however, came from writer Rick Reilly, who said, “When it comes to cheating, (Trump’s) an 11 on a scale of one to 10.”
While with Trump on the golf course, Reilly says Donald lied on his scorecard, gave himself a “gimme” on a chip shot, “raked” his ball into the hole instead of putting it in properly, and allegedly hit a second ball on three different holes during the game.
Again, however, Trump shakes his head at Reilly’s recollections, calling him a “terrible writer” and questioning his memory.
“I always thought he was a terrible writer. I absolutely killed him, and he wrote very inaccurately. I would say that he’s a very dishonest writer..?.?. I never took a gimme chip shot..?.?. I don’t do gimme chip shots. If I asked his approval, that’s not cheating, number one. Number two, I never took one.”
But Reilly’s review on a day of golf with Donald Trump isn’t all bad. The writer also pointed out some positive notes on the day, even saying that he actually really “liked” Donald Trump.
“It’s his limo ride, his golf course. The guy paid for lunch — what are you going to do? He’s exhausting, but I want to be clear: I really liked him. It was just like being in a crazy carnival for a day. Though I’m not sure it would be so much fun when it starts to count.”
In the end, while Donald Trump’s presidential run has so far survived political attacks from both the right and the left, whether or not this collection of golf-cheating accusations might be the straw that breaks the back of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign remains to be seen.
[Images by David Cannon, Grant Lamos, Getty Images]
