Michael Jordan disses Obama's golf game. Which president was real First Duffer?
| Washington
Michael Jordan says President Obama is a bad golfer. Only 鈥渂ad鈥� isn鈥檛 exactly what he said with Ahmad Rashad for Back9Network. Nope, he used a word we don鈥檛 print here in our family web publication.
Here鈥檚 the context: Mr. Rashad 鈥� an ex-pro football star and avid amateur golfer himself 鈥� was sitting around talking with His Airness on camera about dream foursomes. Rashad noted that Mr. Jordan was on his list. Jordan said Rashad wasn鈥檛 on his.
So the trash talking started early.
Rashad then asked who, of all the people in the world, he did want to play golf with. Jordan answered, 鈥�Arnold Palmer.鈥� After that he seemed stuck.
That鈥檚 when Mr. Obama came up.
鈥淚 never played with Obama, but I would,鈥� said Jordan.
Then he seemed to reconsider. Perhaps he was running Obama鈥檚 golf swing through his mind, and then thinking about the Secret Service that would have to tag along, and the press pool waiting at the 19th hole.
鈥淚 take him out, he鈥檚 a hack. It鈥檇 be all day playing with him,鈥� said Jordan.
Rashad questioned whether Jordan really wanted to call the leader of the free world a 鈥渉ack.鈥�
鈥淒on鈥檛 worry about it. I never said he wasn鈥檛 a great politician. I just said he was a [expletive] golfer,鈥� said Jordan.
Well, yeah, compared to Michael Jordan. Jordan鈥檚 reportedly a low single-digit handicap guy, which is understandable considering his athletic heritage. He鈥檚 used to competing and winning when he personally steps onto a field and starts swinging a club.
Unless it鈥檚 baseball, but hey, that was .
Obama, meanwhile, shoots in the mid-90s, a playing partner told Golf Digest in 2009. He鈥檚 got a smooth left-handed swing, and he plays a lot for a president 鈥� more than 200 rounds so far in his term-and-a-half. His critics complain about that frequency.
But he鈥檚 far from the best, or even the most enthusiastic, presidential golfer of all time.
Who was the real First Duffer? Taking the contenders chronologically, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a keen player in his youth. But polio kept him from playing as president.
Dwight Eisenhower wore golf spikes into the White House. He put dents in the floor that subsequent presidents had to remove. He played over 800 times during his two terms in office.
John F. Kennedy loved golf too, but downplayed that because he felt it had become a political liability for Ike. His physical problems also kept him from playing as much as he would have liked.
Gerald Ford was a star football player at the University of Michigan and an under-appreciated athlete. He once out-drove Arnold Palmer off the tee at a charity event, though his shots could be wild.
George H. W. Bush was a good golfer. But he鈥檚 known mostly for being fast on the links 鈥� he pioneered 鈥渟peed golf鈥� while president. Perhaps it reminded him of his beloved powerful speed boats.
Bill Clinton was known mostly for taking mulligans and gimmies during his rounds. That sort of obscures the historical record when it comes to his golf game but partners said he could break 90, legitimately.
How do the rankings shake out? puts Ike first, given his serious approach. goes with JFK as the best natural talent. So does , claiming that Kennedy鈥檚 scores averaged in the 80s.
As for ourselves, we鈥檒l go with Eisenhower. Unlike Michael Jordan, Ike was an excellent baseball player in his youth. There鈥檚 even evidence he played professionally. He was a standout back for Army in 1912, when West Point was a football power. If his career had not been ended by injury, he might today be remembered as the best athlete to ever win the Oval Office.
