Donald Trump loves the game of golf.
The man collects club championships at his course, and he has certainly run up a whopping tally on the taxpayers expense honing his skills. At last count — HuffPost has been avidly tracking — the bill was already at more than $26 million since he was sworn-in on Jan. 20.
Trump’s most recent club title claim came on Sunday, and when a reporter asked him how the tournament went he was excited to talk.
“Very good.” Trump said. “Because I won. It’s good to win. You heard I won, right? Did you hear I won? Just to back it up from there, I won. I like to win.”
He was asked how his handicap is these days.
“Very low,” he said. “I have a very low handicap.”
Supporters of the president believe there just isn’t much he can’t do. But the Masters starts today, and that’s golf’s ultimate tournament. It doesn’t get bigger, more competitive or more memorable.
There should be no reasonable expectation that the president could compete there.
So, let’s get silly.
If you ask Elon Musk’s Grok AI over on the X platform it gradually leans into the affirmative that president really can’t hang in Augusta. But, then again, it kinds of depends on what you would truly consider competitive.
It gives Trump props for being an avid golfer and notes that he has “claimed a handicap as low as 2.8, which, if accurate, would make him a very strong amateur golfer — better than many who’ve competed in high-level tournaments.”
It also notes his club championships, and that he got a compliment on his ability off the tee from pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau.
The president would probably love to see all of that.
But then Grok drops the hammer, sort of. Really, if Trump checks it out, he might feel pretty good about it, though.
It notes that the Masters is simply “a different beast,” where golfers like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have struggled at times. It also notes Trump’s age — 78 — and that he would be up against the top players in the world, many half his age.
It guessed the Trump would shoot 75-77 “on an average PGA Tour course,” but noted that Augusta is no average course. And it said the average Masters score is 74-75, “and that’s from players ath the peak of their game.”
So, how would Trump do?
Well, Grok guesses the president would fire 80-85 per round, “which could get him through the 10-shot rule to play the weekend if he’s lucky, but contending? That’s a stretch.”
So, Donald Trump, as we all thought, could not win the Maters, at least according to Grok.
Would the president be happy with that performance, though? Maybe someone will ask him.
Grok did note that Trump would almost certainly enjoy the spotlight, charm the crowd and even get in a few quips at the press conference.
