Former President Donald Trump recently put his game on public display in a recorded round of golf with 2020 and 2024 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who has been growing his YouTube following while playing on the Saudi-owned LIV Golf circuit.
The 45th President is actually a good golfer, and he has plenty of power for a man of his age. After all, most men start losing driving distance in their late 40s, and Trump is 78 years old. He drove a 210-yard green in the video -- even if it shouldn't have been dubbed a par 4, it was still an excellent shot. He seems to hit the ball fairly well with his irons.
However, his short game is where he struggles. In particular, Donald Trump's putting stroke was the subject of ridicule from many viewers of the DeChambeau video -- be they golf fans or political observers. Trump's putting stroke is pretty ugly and quite unconventional. It is quite reliant on timing, even more so than a more reliable stroke. Let's look at his stroke to see what's so bad about it.
The primary issue with Trump's putting stroke is what he does at the moment of impact --- the moment of truth, if you will.
Trump has a tendency to get too handsy at impact, often flipping the putter head in one direction or another, though it is typically open or to the outside of the intended arc of his putting stroke. Sometimes, though, when he feels like his stroke is going to leave the putter head open relative to his target, he'll flip it closed in hopes of keeping it on line. That's not something unique to the former President; lots of golfers do this, although maybe not as visually noticeable, including Scottie Scheffler.
The Trump putting stroke is somewhat reminiscent of a popstroke, which was popularized in an older era of the game when putting surfaces were much slower and speed control was a much bigger part of the putting equation. After all, to make a putt, a golfer has to marry line and speed -- in other words, hit it hard enough to roll properly on the humps and bumps of a green as intended to the hole. Almost all of the greats of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s used this style of stroke, though it is much more difficult to employ now given manicuring and maintenance make putting greens so much faster.
The end result of Trump's last-minute fumbling with the stroke is a bad look. It looks unpleasant to the eye. It also looks like the first 95 percent of the stroke is almost meaningless relative to the flip at the end.
For as bad-looking at Trump's stroke is with the putter, though, he still gets a lot of putts started on line and has pretty good distance control. While he doesn't threaten to make nearly as many putts as he could with a much improved putting technique, he also doesn't hit a lot of bad putts that don't wind up anywhere near the hole. He gets the ball close enough in most situations that he can two-putt a green, often raking back the ball for what he or his playing partners would consider a gimme next putt -- one he won't miss the overwhelming percentage of the time.
Trump could probably save several strokes per round if he dedicated himself to a simpler, more consistent putting stroke. But at 78 years old, Trump is unlikely to suddenly break down his putting stroke to figure out a better way.
