‘Amazing!’ Trump Gushes Over ‘Tremendous Courage’ of Rory McIlroy to Win Masters on Air Force One
President Donald Trump gushed over Northern Ireland golf pro Rory McIlroy’s victory in the 89th Masters, praising his “guts” and “tremendous courage” in securing a career Grand Slam win. He’s the sixth player in history to do so.
After an 11-year major drought, McIlroy came from behind to close out the tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday in dramatic fashion with a playoff on the 18th hole with Justin Rose. From ESPN’s Mark Schlabach:
In the playoff on the par-4 18th, both players hit their tee shots in the fairway. Rose’s approach from 187 yards nearly hit the hole on the fly, and his ball bounced 15 feet past. McIlroy’s second shot was even better, landing on the slope above the hole with his ball rolling back 4 feet from the cup as the patrons surrounding the green chanted his name.
After taking several minutes to read the putt, Rose’s birdie attempt failed to break and stayed right. With a second chance to capture his first green jacket after he missed a 5-footer on the 72nd hole, McIlroy didn’t miss again.
Trump emerged into the press cabin aboard Air Force One Sunday night during his return flight to Washington, DC, and took questions from reporters, which is a much more frequent event this time around and much more so than with prior presidents.
A reporter asked if he’d seen the end of the tournament, and Trump responded by congratulating McIlroy:
REPORTER: Did you catch the end of the Masters?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I guess. Well, I have to congratulate Rory. That showed tremendous courage. He was having a hard time. But it showed great guts and stamina and courage. People have no idea how tough that is. And he came back. He could be proud of it.
Actually, it’s better for him that it happened that way because that showed real courage to have come back from… what could have been a tragedy, was amazing. Did you watch it?
REPORTER: Yep, we did. We were in the press van.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Pretty amazing, right?
REPORTER: We knew when you were pulling out when it was over.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, no, I wanted to watch it. We’re going nowhere. You knew there was no way. Even for you people, there was nowhere. That was it. It’s one of my favorite shows ever. The Masters is, to me, maybe my favorite sporting show. And it showed in. Justin Rose was great. Look, they’re great athletes under tremendous pressure.
But unless you’re a golfer, you don’t understand it. It’s a hundredth of an inch makes a difference between a great shot and a horrible shot. Think of it. Just a little tiny, a little small percentage of an inch, and literally, in some cases, a hundred of an inch is the difference between winning and losing.
Watch above via Pool.
