Trump’s golf game is cheating ‘on the highest level’ - new book

An author claims that US President Donald Trump cannot help but cheat every time he picks up a golf club.

An upcoming book claims that Trump, a golf lover and owner of numerous golf courses, has a troubled relationship with fair play, according to the New York Post report.

"To say ‘Donald Trump cheats' is like saying ‘Michael Phelps swims,'" writes Rick Reilly, referring to the US swimmer, a champion of 23 Olympic events and 26 World championships. "[Trump] cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren't."

Reilly's book, "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump," based on conversations with several players, both professional and amateur, who played with Trump, will be published Tuesday.

Trump's cheating has come up numerous times, a BBC report notes. Earlier last year, LPGA professional Suzann Pettersen spoke about the issue with Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.

"No matter how far into the woods he hits the ball, it's in the middle of the fairway when we get there," she said, nodding towards Trump's caddy.

"We clearly saw him hook a ball into a lake at Trump National [in Bedminster, New Jersey] and his caddy told him he found it," Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson said in a 2016 interview.

The involvement of Trump's caddy is unclear, as in 2017, The Washington Post reported the caddy tipped off the sportscaster Mike Tirico that Trump himself misplaced Tirico's ball after it landed beyond Tirico's field of view.

In the meantime, Trump's official golf score is said to be impressively high. His handicap is an impressive 2.8, as listed on the Golf Handicap and Information Network website, The Guardian notes. By comparison, Jack Nicklaus, considered the greatest golfer of all time, has a handicap of 3.4. However, Rick Reilly dismisses the record altogether.

"If Trump is a 2.8, Queen Elizabeth is a pole vaulter," Reilly writes.

Trump has repeatedly denied cheating while playing golf. He already had a bout with Reilly in 2015, when Reilly also alleged Trump's unsavory practices in an interview with The Washington Post.

"I always thought he was a terrible writer," Trump said at the time. "I would say that he's a very dishonest writer."

(SPUTNIK)