Donald Trump deflects Rory McIlroy’s vow to not play with him again

Donald Trump has responded to Rory McIlroy’s vow to never play golf with the US President again after his response to the Covid-19 crisis, saying some professional golfers liked his policies and others did not.
Trump commented while phoning in to TV coverage as McIlroy and three other golfers competed in the TaylorMade Driving Relief skins tournament in Florida on Sunday, which raised more than five million dollars for coronavirus charities.
McIlroy caused controversy last Thursday by saying while he had played with the golf-loving Trump in the past and enjoyed it, he would not play with the president again due to his politicising of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re in the midst of something that’s pretty serious right now and the fact that he’s trying to politicise it and make it a campaign rally and say we’re administering the most tests in (the) world like it is a contest – there’s something that just is terrible,” the Northern Irishman said on the McKellar Golf podcast.
“It’s not the way a leader should act.
“I don’t know if he’d want to play with me again after what I just said, but I wouldn’t (play with him again).”
Trump, alleged to habitually cheat at golf in the 2019 book Commander In Cheat by former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, phoned in to NBC’s coverage of the skins event on Sunday.
Asked about McIlroy’s comments, he said: “A lot of them (golfers) are very political, actually. A lot of them like my politics very much and some don’t, I guess.
“The ones that don’t I don’t get to see as much.”
The results from today’s match that matter most. #DrivingRelief pic.twitter.com/4jZeF4jfRV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2020
World number one McIlroy teamed up with Dustin Johnson against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in Sunday’s charity event at Seminole Golf Club.
McIlroy and Johnson won by claiming a 1.1 million dollar (GBP 910,000) skin through a nearest-the-pin challenge on a par-three tiebreaker hole, as McIlroy hit his tee shot to within 10 feet.
The pair raised 2,075,000 dollars (GBP 1.53m), Fowler and Wolff ended with 1,150,000 dollars (GBP 951,000). Adding in viewer donations, the event raised 5,503,959 dollars (GBP 4.55m).
Trump also said it was “wonderful” to be watching the likes of McIlroy playing golf again as the US President underlined the importance of getting sport back quickly for the “psyche” of the nation.
The sporting calendar has been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic in recent months, but events are slowly beginning to return across the world.
UFC has returned behind closed doors and the Bundesliga became the first top league to resume this weekend, when there was live golf on TV in the form of the TaylorMade Driving Relief – a two-team skins challenge over 18 holes.
Trump said “it’s really so good to see these great players playing” having been unable to play himself since the coronavirus situation started.
“We want to get sports back,” he said. “We miss sports, we need sports in terms of the psyche – the psyche of our country – and that’s what we’re doing.
“It’ll start off with small crowds, if any. You saw UFC the other night, they had really just a lighted ring in the middle of an empty arena and I’m not sure that so many people missed the fans. I don’t think so in that particular case.
“But, look, we want to get it back to where it was. We want big, big stadiums loaded with people.
The first four PGA Tour events will not have fans as golf restarts behind closed doors but Trump says “after that hopefully it’ll be back” to having supporters in the stands.
“We don’t want to have 15,000 people watching Alabama – LSU, as an example, we want to have the masses, we want to have big crowds.
“Right now that’s not what they’re planning, but you never know what happens. Things can happen very quickly.”
Latest
-
News
Steve Stricker makes Padraig Harrington sweat as Irishman wins US Senior Open
The pair were rival captains in last year’s Ryder Cup in Wisconsin.
-
News
Golfers warned of further sanctions if they continue to play in LIV breakaway
The DP World Tour has issued fines of £100,000 and tournament bans to its members who played in the inaugural LIV Golf event earlier this month
-
European Tour
DP World Tour hits members who played inaugural LIV series with £100,000 fines
They have also been banned from several forthcoming tournaments including the Scottish Open.
-
News
Rory McIlroy not impressed as Brooks Koepka becomes latest big name to join LIV
The world number two labelled the players who have joined the new series as “duplicitous” for the way they have handled their breakaway.
-
The Open
R&A confirms LIV Golf Series players will be allowed to compete at Open
The 150th Open Championship will get underway at St Andrews in three weeks’ time.
-
US Open
Matt Fitzpatrick turns to other major winners for advice on dealing with fame
Fitzpatrick won the US Open on Sunday.
-
News
Brooks Koepka set to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series
Koepka’s brother Chase played in the opening event at Centurion Club earlier this month.
-
US Open
Gary Player urges Matt Fitzpatrick to avoid ‘poison’ of modern-day coaching
Player tells US Open champion Fitzpatrick to learn from mistakes of recent major winners, saying: “The teaching today is the worst it has ever been.”
-
US Open
Matt Fitzpatrick’s caddie Billy Foster ready for ‘long party’ after US Open win
Foster won his first major after a 40-year career which includes spells working for the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke.
-
US Open
Matt Fitzpatrick backed to become a dominant force after winning first major
The Englishman claimed his first major title at Brookline.