Here’s the scene that appears on Donald Trump’s Twitter feed today. This is of his great shot from yesterday. Yes, the one where he was stumbling around, using his golf club for balance and dragging his leg. But not in this version. No, this version looks like something that Tiger Woods would dream up. This looks perfect.
Which raises the question of what really happened here? Now I confess to nearsightedness and this is a small white object flying across the screen. Or, not flying across the screen. So you tell me, golfers, and I know there are some here that do play that sport. What just happened?
2/3/2024 — TIGC… pic.twitter.com/0HlaLGhDOf
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) February 4, 2024
There is perhaps the Tahoe Incline Golf Club, which is in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Trump was in Nevada recently, maybe he played golf there on the third. Or, maybe it’s Mar-a-Lago and Trump wants you to think it’s Lake Tahoe for some reason.
Here’s a tribute to Trump/Elvis/Smelvis.
— THE UNITED SPOT (@THEUNITEDSPOT_) February 4, 2024
While we’re at it….
— Cashmymemes (@cashmymemes) February 4, 2024
And this showed up in the thread. Somehow, this fits.
Jesus-Christ! pic.twitter.com/FJiWgjp26M
— Elohim (@GoGodorGoOm) February 4, 2024
Maybe our neighbors in outer space have decided to come down here and clean house. Frankly, my take on it has always been that we’re in quarantine, and they no more want to communicate with us than we would want to communicate with a race of psychotic, savage children on an island we knew about. We’d just leave them on their island and hope they didn’t figure out a way to build boats and come bug us on ours.
Back to this Trump shot, fast forward to :29 – :30. Do you not hear the words, “quiet on the set?” Or, is my computer haunted, as I have long been suspecting. Let me know if you hear it, too.
So, is this a “set” or is this just the wonderful MAGA candidate, their former prez but always prez in their limited minds, having a great outing? Cynic that I am, it occurred to me that these are paid extras, like the ones Trump hired when he first descended the escalator with Melania, in virginal white. Remember that? And perhaps these extras were cued to watch the ball go in the water and then whoop and cheer, pretending that it actually was a hole in one.
What’s that you say? Even Lindsay Graham says that he cheats? Well, there is that, yes. And a book has been written about Trump’s cheating at golf — like he cheats at everything in life.
But above all, the former president’s dubious claims on the course have become legendary and were the subject of a 2019 book by sportswriter Rick Reilly: “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.”
“Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf,” Reilly wrote. “He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs. At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: ‘Pele.’”
Just ask members of Trump International West Palm Beach who arrived for the final round of their Senior Club Championship on Jan. 22 only to find Trump’s name at the top of the leaderboard … when he didn’t play the first round. […]
Here is the story Reilly told and was also reported on Golf.com.
Trump sees Virtue on the back nine of the course one day and tells him he didn’t really win the club championship, “because I was out of town.” So he tells Virtue they will start there and play to see who the real champion is. Virtue has no choice.
“Apparently, they get to a hole with a big pond in front of the green,” Reilly said. “Both Ted and his son hit the ball on the green, but Trump hits his in the water. By the time they get to the hole, though, Trump is lining up the son’s ball. Only now it’s his ball and the caddie has switched it.
“The son is like, ‘That’s my ball!’ But Trump’s caddie goes, ‘No, this is the president’s ball; your ball went in the water.’ … Trump makes that putt, and wins 1-up.”
So you see, if I’m cynical, I come by it honestly.
To be honest (and I watched it several times) no, the ball didn’t go in the drink. The water was calm enough even with that brief glimpse of the camera panning over to the green if he’d hit in in the water there would have been those telltale ripples on the surface. Trust me, I’ve felt the pain of seeing my own “water balls” make them and know what they look like! However hole in 1? I think not. Granted this wasn’t TV quality camera work but I didn’t see a ball on the green but I think maybe he hit too low a trajectory and it had enough on it to jump up the hill and wind up a respectable distance from the flag. Empty green and then a ball sitting there.
Maybe there was a bit of editing to that little clip. That wouldn’t surprise me but the reaction of the others suggests to me a group thinking Wow – he got away with one. Instead of it rolling back into the water it jumped up onto the green and turned into a pretty good shot. Golf is funny that way. You can hit a great shot and a puff of wind while it’s in flight can turn it into a bad outcome. Or you can hit a poor shot and have it work out well. Decades ago in the U.S. Open AND on the final hole Andy North held a one shot lead at the famed Cherry Hills. The tee shot on 18 there has to clear a pretty wide lake that runs left to right vs. the direction of the shot to a fairway that also runs left to right. Not an easy shot even for pros and sure as hell not in that situation.
North hit s “low screamer” drive that struck the water and miraculously SKIPPED up from the surface and clear the water hazard! 99% plus of the time that ball’s in the water and you’re “hitting 3 from the tee. (counting the shot that went in the water and the penalty shot your next shot on the hole counts as your third) North wound up with a par to win. And don’t get me started on the 12th hole at Augusta, regarded as “the meanest little par 3 in championship golf.” That would require an entire article to explain.
But I’m pretty sure in this case the celebration is that Trump lucked out. Hit a screamer of a line drive short iron tee shot (in other words mishit the ball) and lucked the hell out – it struck that slope in front of the green at a spot and with enough speed that let it jump up AND forward. Instead of up and back, rolling back into the water. And then wound up less than ten feet from the freaking hole. Luck. Been there, seen it and done it. And the reaction from others is familiar. Some people have a lot of undeserved luck.
Does Lake Tahoe have palm trees?
There must be a great physio attached to that golf club. Not only did he lose the limp, but he lost a LOT of weight at the same time.
Either that – or he’s recycled a film clip from quite a while ago
When I start giving a shit what a fat man does on a golf course I’ll throw myself off a bridge! He grifted a year of golf off the American public instead of working as president so he should be able to hit the ball. When he slips and breaks his goddamn neck THEN I’ll really get excited about the game. After all some of the richest and most successful PGA pros sold their souls for money by supporting the murderers in Saudi Arabia. I wonder how well they could play if their fingers were cut off with tin snips?
“Quiet on the set” says it all.