WEST PALM BEACH, FL — On the campaign trail, Donald Trump mocked President Barack Obama’s penchant for golf, suggesting that he was neglecting his presidential duties to indulge in his favorite pastime.
But Trump’s critique must be a campaign bygone, because on Friday the president-elect interrupted his busy schedule of transition meetings and foreign policy declarations to tee up with legendary golfer Tiger Woods.
The two met on a sunny and breezy morning at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort where he and his family have been secluded for the past week.
Trump, whose company owns more than a dozen luxury golf courses around the world, is an avid golfer and follows the sport closely. Golf Digest recently listed Trump as among the best golfers in Washington, with a 2.8 handicap, and suggested he could be “the best-ever golfer president.”
Trump has long admired Woods, who also has a home in the Palm Beach area, and earlier this month he tweeted that Woods was “special.”
Obama also has played golf with Woods during his presidency, though typically the president’s golf partners are personal friends and select aides, as opposed to celebrities.
At a campaign rally in December 2015, Trump ripped into Obama for playing hundreds of rounds of golf as president.
“He played more golf last year than Tiger Woods,” Trump said suggestively. “We don’t have time for this. We have to work.”
He added, “I love golf, I think it’s one of the greats, but I don’t have time.”
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