Donald Trump misquotes golf legend in private jet justification

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There are plenty of private jets here in Charlotte for this week’s PGA Championship, but it’s a safe bet none of them were dished out like gimmes in a game of golf.

“They’re giving us a free jet,” Trump said. “I could say, no, no, no, don’t give (it to) us, I want to pay you a billion, or $400 million, or whatever it is. Or I could say, ‘Thank you very much.’”

News broke late last week that Qatar was interested in gifting Trump a uber-luxury Boeing 747 jet to use as Air Force One.

“There was an old golfer named Sam Snead. Did you ever hear of him?” Trump began at a press conference on Monday.

“He was a great golfer, he won 82 tournaments, and he had a motto,” Trump continued. “When they give you a putt, you say, ‘Thank you very much.’ You pick up your ball, and you walk to the next hole. A lot of people are stupid. They say, ‘No, no, I insist on putting it.’ Then they putt it, they miss it and their partner gets angry at them.”

There will be no gimmes this week at Quail Hollow, as the tournament is a traditional 72-hole stroke play event, which means every putt has to be holed. But, in the early days of the PGA Championship — a tournament Slammin’ Sam Snead won three times — the tournament included a match play format and there were indeed gimmes on the table.

Shockingly, there are a few things wrong with Trump’s analogy. The first being the obvious one that a $400-million jet is slightly different than a one-foot putt.

The second being that once a putt is given in golf, it’s given, period, end of story. It doesn’t matter if you decide to try the putt and miss it. So the “stupid people” in Trump’s mind that “insist on putting it” aren’t costing them or their partner anything should they miss. Unless they are playing against Trump, perhaps.

Third, and most importantly, there appears to be no record of Snead ever uttering the quote Trump attributes to him. The quote Trump is perhaps mis-remembering actually has Snead saying he didn’t like to give gimmes.

In his 1962 book The Education of the Golfer, Snead wrote the following: “Some of the things I didn’t have to be taught as a rookie travelling pro were to keep close count of my nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey and never concede a putt,” he wrote.

Oh well, Trump isn’t the first golfer (or president) to tell tall tales.