Biden and Trump clashed over golf at debate – but who really is the best golfer?

After sparring on an Atlanta debate stage, there might be a more suitable arena for the former and sitting president to settle their quarrels: the golf course.

Biden and Trump went head-to-head in their historic first debate of the election year on Thursday evening which was beamed to millions of CNN viewers around the globe.

While Biden took a swing at his Republican counterpart, the CNN flash poll suggested that, overall, his performance missed – with 67 per cent of respondents saying that Trump came out on top.

Among rambling responses and the spread of misinformation, discussions descended into trash talk with the president offering out Trump to a “driving contest.”

Biden, 81, who boasted that he previously had a handicap of six – before changing it to eight – said he’d happily take on Trump at the golf course – but only if Trump carried his own bag. The 78-year-old, who once claimed he had a handicap of 2.5, retorted that “I’ve seen your swing,” adding, “that’s a lie”.

The question remains: away from the field of politics, who might win on the fairway?

Practice makes perfect

Whether it’s entertaining socialites or PGA legends, Trump’s life outside the political sphere has become synonymous with knocking a ball in on the front and back nine.

Rewind to 2015, however, and you’d be inclined to think that Trump might be out of practice. He frequently, and venomously, criticised his predecessor, Barack Obama, for leaving the White House to play 18 holes and insisted that if elected himself he would have no time to play golf.

“I don’t have time for that,” Trump said at a campaign rally. “I love golf. I think it’s one of the greats. but I don’t have time,” he added.

Trump went on to play more than 300 rounds of golf during his time in office and declared himself the “best golfer of all the rich people.”

The ex-president has subsequently kept up his golf game, and now owns 16 golf courses around the world – from New York to Aberdeen.

He appears to play a round on his own courses every week, with regular practice likely giving him the edge over the president.

Trump in ‘good shape,’ he says

On Thursday evening, Trump touted his own fitness – both physically and mentally – and said he was in as good a shape as he had been 25 years ago and perhaps “even a little bit lighter”.

The ex-president also trumpeted his wins in two golf club championships three months ago at the golf club he owns in West Palm Beach, Florida.

But, it’s important to be aware of Trump inflating his own value – both on and off the field. In a 2019 book dedicated to Trump’s alleged golfing antics, Commander in Cheat, sportswriter Rick Reilly wrote that caddies called Trump “Pelé” because he kicks the ball around the course like the Brazilian football icon.

Competitors refrained from calling him Maradona, despite his hand of God-like throwing of a ball out of a bunker.

Winning tournaments that weren’t actually competed in, stealing opponents’ balls and doctoring his own – and others’ – scores and handicaps, lying about who actually won. There’s an unofficial name for the phenomenon, Reilly says: the Trump Bump.

So, when it comes to the Biden-Trump golf showdown, the ex-president might just pull a fast one.

Biden ‘can’t hit ball 50 yards’

While considering a bid for the White House in 2015, Golf Digest said that Biden could be “the best golfing president in history,” rivalling fellow Democrat John F Kennedy.

But since taking the Oval Office, unlike Trump, Biden has taken time away from the green.

Once upon a time, Biden played regularly while serving as vice president, earning a handicap of 6.7, according to the United States Golf Association.

While the president has not listed a score since 2018, a clip from a 2022 Virgin Islands holiday shows his swing is pretty impressive for a pensioner.

Trump, however, was quick to quash any claims of Biden’s club-in-hand prowess.

“He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards,” Trump said, referring to his rival. “He challenged me to a golf match – he can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”

Biden’s campaign team released a five-minute golf-themed video last month ahead of the November election. Bar gently putting a ball, briefly, Biden wasn’t recorded taking a proper swing of a club.

After anaylsing the evidence, it appears that if one were to put on a bet, Trump may just be the bookies’ favourite.

Golfer Bryson DeChambeau, winner of two major championships and a friend of Trump, offered to help the pair settle the argument by playing a match that he would show on his YouTube channel. Perhaps this is the only way we’ll know for sure.