After finishing his last hole of the weekend at The Northern Trust, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, Tiger Woods faced questions about his relationship with President Donald Trump.
Woods acknowledged he knew Trump before his presidency and played golf with him before and during his time in office, but he did not tip any of his political opinions or whether he support’s Trump’s policies.
“Well, he’s the president of the United States. You have to respect the office,” Woods said. “No matter who is in the office, you may like, dislike personality or the politics, but we all must respect the office.’’
Then, Woods was asked to comment on the state of the country’s “race relations” as the most famous black golfer in history. He did not.
“No. I just finished 72 holes and am really hungry,” Woods said.
This might be my favorite Talk About question of all time. “Tiger, broadly comment on race relations, if you will.” https://t.co/QYFPafjCTu
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) August 26, 2018
As the most iconic golfer of the millennium, Woods has been invited to play with the past five presidents. He’s played with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both when they were in office and after their terms. There was initially mutual interest between Woods and George W. Bush, but it did not happen; however, Woods played with George H.W. Bush, long after his presidency, of course.
Woods and fellow PGA Tour golfers Dustin Johnson and Brad Faxon played golf with Trump last Thanksgiving.
From his career as a real estate developer, Trump owns 17 golf courses via his holding company. He’s also made surprise appearances at golf events before and during his presidency. When The Northern Trust was called The Barclays and played at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey in 2015, then-candidate Trump was seen walking the grounds during the final round.
Even so, it is not clear why Woods was asked about Trump at this point in time when the former No. 1 golfer in the world has been back in the public eye and played a near-full schedule in 2018.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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