Rick Reilly has long been one of the most popular sportswriters in America, starting with his days at Sports Illustrated, then ESPN.com and most recently covering major golf tournaments for The Athletic, but his newest book is bound to bother a lot of golfers.
“Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump” has already climbed best-seller lists, but it was Reilly’s promotion of the new book that has made headlines in recent days when he publicly challenged the President of the United States to a $100,000 match.
Hey @realDonaldTrump… I told this AP reporter I’d take you on for 18 holes for $100k… As long as we both had rules officials with us and you don’t get to use one of your cheating caddies… You game? https://t.co/rwWSLCvnq6
— Rick Reilly (@ReillyRick) April 2, 2019
“Hey (President Trump)… I told this AP reporter I’d take you on for 18 holes for $100k,” Reilly wrote on Twitter. “As long as we both had rules officials with us and you don’t get to use one of your cheating caddies… you game?”
Trump has yet to respond to Reilly’s challenge publicly.
Reilly told the Associated Press that the stories of Trump’s cheating on the golf course have offended him not as a citizen of the United States, but as a golfer.
“In golf, he’s definitely not exonerated,” Reilly told The Associated Press, referencing in the Mueller Report. “There’s been dozens and dozens of people that can declare him guilty of cheating.
“I don’t know much about politics, but I know golf and it really offended me, not as a voter or as a citizen — just as a golfer.”
Reilly, whose handicap is 4.8, said that he’s confident Trump “can’t cover that 2.8. No way.”
