President Obama, Tiger Woods Play Golf Together
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JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(PALM CITY, Fla.) — President Obama is in the middle of spending a three-day weekend at a posh Florida golf and yacht club. And if taking private training lessons on the links from Tiger Woods’ old coach Saturday wasn’t enough, on Sunday the Tiger himself joined Obama on the links. The meeting on the green is their first.
A White House official confirmed to the press that the president was playing with Woods, although media have not been allowed on the resort since the president’s Friday arrival to view any activity.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and the property’s owner, Jim Crane, were also on the course, according to the official. Crane is a former Obama donor and the owner of the Houston Astros baseball team.
Woods, who is among the world’s top professional golfers, was the first person to hold all four major championship titles simultaneously. By contrast, Obama, who only took up the sport in recent years, has previously described himself as only an average duffer. His love of the game is well known however, and he played more than a hundred rounds last summer.
Obama has occasionally drawn criticism from opponents for the amount of time he’s spent on golf courses, drawing complaints that it is time wasted away from the Oval Office. But he is far from the golf record holder among U.S. presidents. That goes to Woodrow Wilson, who historians note played 1,200 rounds during his presidency. Former President Dwight Eisenhower takes second place at 800, according to his memorial commission.
Woods is currently the second highest ranking golfer in the world, although his career suffered in 2009 when a messy extramarital affair came to the public eye.
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