Rory McIlroy has launched an extraordinary attack on President Donald Trump and vowed never to play another round of golf with him.
The Northern Irishman, back in the spotlight tomorrow with a Skins match in Florida to raise funds for Covid-19 relief, made clear that he is no fan of the way that golf-fanatic Trump has handled the pandemic.
‘It’s not the way a leader should act,’ said the world No 1, in comments that could land him in trouble with the PGA Tour. ‘We’re in the midst of something that’s pretty serious right now and the fact 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 — that’s something that is just terrible.
The world No 1, who faced intense backlash after playing a round of golf with Trump shortly after he was inaugurated in 2017, admitted the president was “charismatic” and had an “X factor” but said he wouldn’t play with him again if asked.
“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],” said McIlroy, who resides in the Florida town of Palm Beach not far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. “I felt I would have been making more of a statement if I had turned it down. It was a round of golf and nothing more.”
The Northern Irishman is teaming with Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff to raise money for coronavirus charities with Sunday’s TaylorMade Driving Relief – a two-team skins challenge over 18 holes – at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach.
McIlroy will team up with Johnson against Fowler and Wolff, with up to $3m (£2.38m) going to the American Nurses Foundation and CDC Foundation. All four will follow strict physical-distancing measures and comprehensive testing will be used to protect players, TV staff and others at the course.
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