MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — President Donald Trump returned to the Presidents Cup as honorary chairman for the second time, getting a loud cheer and keeping his remarks brief.
“These people want to see golf,” he said Sunday.
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His visit to Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago marked the fourth time Trump has gone to a golf tournament this year.
Security was tight. The Secret Service would not let spectators cross from one side of the first fairway to the other except for when Trump took a break from greeting golfers to go inside a suite.
Trump also was honorary chairman at the 2017 Presidents Cup during his first term. He showed up at Liberty National, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, toward the end of the competition when the Americans were assured of winning. He posed with U.S. players during the trophy presentation.
This time, he arrived before the start of the 12 singles matches in the final session. Flanked by PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, Trump greeted players and caddies on both teams. In between player introductions, he watched the action on the videoboard at No. 1.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf and among several golfers who have played with Trump, patted the president’s shoulder as he walked onto the tee. U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker also visited the president a couple times.
Trump signed three hats for fans, and he responded to periodic cheers by pointing at a group in the crowd and waving or offering a thumbs-up. When a fan yelled “We love you Donnie,” right before Chris Gotterup's tee shot, Trump waved discreetly.
Trump was introduced by Rolapp, prompting Trump to remark “the fake news media will say I got a very bad reception.”
The president spoke briefly, noting that Rolapp had asked him to make a short speech.
“I said, ‘No, I don’t have the courage to make a speech. These people want to see golf. They don’t want to hear speeches,’” Trump said. “I’ll only say this: Our country is doing great, better than ever before.”
Unlike regular golf tournaments, the first tee is boisterous with a flag-waving crowd and music at the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, which Trump attended last year at Bethpage Black on Long Island in New York.
The Americans lost the Ryder Cup, and they trailed on Sunday in the Presidents Cup for only the fourth time in 32 years of competition.
“I’m going to watch the greatest players in the world go out and play and play your hearts out,” Trump told the crowd at Medinah. “It’s going to be a very interesting game of golf.”
Before the horseshoe-shaped grandstand was filled, the loudest buzz was Air Force One flying over Medinah, louder than any of the commercial airlines that have been flying over the course every 70 seconds throughout the week during descent to O'Hare International Airport.
“They were nice enough to name me chairman or honorary chairman, so it’s an honor. It’s a very big event, one of the biggest events in golf by far,” Trump told reporters Sunday morning as he left the White House. “You have the Ryder Cup, and you have the Presidents Cup, and this is a big one, and so it’s a great honor. So, I’m going there.”
It's a traditional role offered to leaders of every country where the tournament is played.
The Presidents Cup began in 1994 to include international players from non-European countries who were not eligible for the more famed Ryder Cup. The name of the tournament comes from including the head of state of the host country to be honorary chairman.
Then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was part of the trophy presentation at the last Presidents Cup in 2024 at Royal Montreal.
President Bill Clinton was in office in 2000 when he attended for one round at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. The first time Trump attended in 2017, the start of the week was the biggest display of presidents when Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama sat together on the first tee for the opening round.
Trump this year was at the Cadillac Championship at his Trump National Doral near Miami in early May. He also attended the LIV Golf event at his Trump National Bedminster course in New Jersey in August.
Earlier this month he attended the Irish Open over the weekend at his course in Doonbeg, Ireland.
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AP writers Darlene Superville and Doug Ferguson contributed from Medinah.
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See AP’s full golf coverage here
