Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Fight them, without becoming them!

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

You can’t love your country only when you win.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

T R E 4 5 O N

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

I am pretty sure Katy Tur wasn’t always such a bootlicking sycophant.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Late Night Open Thread: A Good *Lie* Spoiled

Late Night Open Thread: A Good *Lie* Spoiled

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Trigger warning: TFG…

That embedded quote in the above tweet is from the NYTimes‘ official golf reporter, because of course the FTFNYT did their well-honed best to treat this as just another fun celebrity outing. Here’s a less obsequious take, from Steve Polito NJ.com:

… Trump looked creaky as he bent over to put his tee in the ground, but after three quick practice swings with his driver, he whacked a solid tee shot to the left rough. His daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, looked pleased. So did Trump…

And so began a day that was somehow equal parts mundane and surreal. Let’s get the mundane part out of the way first: Trump held his own on a sweltering day with Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and his son, Eric, offering the two high-profile PGA Tour defectors tips about playing the course that, starting on Friday, will host the latest installment of the LIV tour.

As for the surreal?

Put it this way: If I could travel back in time 10 years and tell my younger self that, in July 2022, I would cover a golf event with Trump, who is a former U.S. president; Bruce Jenner, who is now Caitlyn; and Charles Barkley, who is a contemplating a career as a golf broadcaster … let’s just say I hope my younger self would correctly surmise that marijuana is now legal in New Jersey…

Trump tapped in for bogey on the first hole, and that’s when it became tricky for the sportswriters who had hoped to count his every stroke. He knocked his drive into a bunker on the third hole, but well before Trump zoomed down the fairway in his presidential cart, his caddie retrieved it and used a rake to hide any evidence from his poor shot.

This was a best-ball format event — or, at least, something approaching that — so Trump didn’t keep his own score. His group was 6 under and just one stroke off the “lead” in the Pro-Am, close enough that Trump would stop to study the digital scoreboards with the latest results.

When he and the others finished at 2:30 p.m., they were in second place. Yes, the “recount” jokes practically write themselves…

He was pressed about how much money he is making from LIV, which has reportedly use Saudi’s Public Investment Fund for nine-figure payouts to attract pros like Johnson and Phil Mickelson, but declined to go into specifics.

“I don’t do it for that,” Trump said. “They’ve been very generous, but I don’t do it for that. I do it because they’ve been great for golf. You know, we had the U.S. Women’s Open here a few years ago, and we had the junior championships. And they want to have others. It’s a great course, a great course.”

On and on it went. On a day that the course was closed to the general public, Trump’s group was easy to find. It was the only one that used golf carts, with an armada of about 15 of them as the Secret Service followed his every move…

The pro golfers, alas, didn’t have a squad of Secret Service guys surrounding them. Another Steve Politi / NJ.com update:

… As Mickelson prepared to hit his tee shot on the par-3 hole — his first under LIV Golf’s shotgun start rules — a heckler cracked the silence with a biting commentary about who is paying his massive salary.

“DO IT FOR THE SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY!” the man yelled.

The crowd grumbled as Mickelson backed away from the ball. A security guard found the heckler, according to multiple witnesses, and warned him that he would be ejected for any other outbursts. But the damage to the moment had been done.

Mickelson knocked his tee shot into the greenside bunker, then nearly sent his sand shot into the water on the opposite side of the green. He made a bogey, the start of what had to been an awkward and at times surreal day for the five-time major winner. He finished 4-over and is in a tie for 43rd — if not for the no-cut format, Mickelson might be prepared to head home before the weekend…

It wasn’t that the crowd was against him — to the contrary, most of the fans who followed him for the first round of this 54-hole event were supportive. “We love you, Lefty!” a man yelled as he walked to the 16th green, and in return, Mickelson smiled and nodded.

No, it was the size of the galleries that was most jarring. At a typical major, the throngs would be 10 or 15 people deep around a green where Mickelson was putting, a gallery size that only 15-time major winner Tiger Woods could match. Even at a routine PGA Tour event, the savvy fans know to skip a hole ahead to watch Mickelson — or else get stuck without a view.

That wasn’t a problem here. Despite LIV Golf saturating the market with free tickets via social media, some holes at the furthest reaches of the course only had a few dozen spectators watching. Mickelson, playing with Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen, had the biggest galleries. But that’s not saying much.

It is just one more example of how far he has fallen. Mickelson arrived as a punching bag, both for sportswriters and the general public. The family of 9/11 victims, furious at the golfers who signed onto a tour sponsored by the Saudi government, targeted him specifically during a pair of protests held a few miles from the course. Even other golfers have teed him up.

“These guys — you’ve seen their interviews, right?” former Masters winner Fred Couples told Golf.com last month. “Have you ever seen Phil look so stupid in his life? They know it’s a joke.”

Everything Trump touches dies — still a truism.

Reader Interactions

37Comments

  1. 1.

    piratedan

    proof that there is apparently no omniscient sky buddy, as none of the participants were struck dead by lightning.

    if there’s a finer example of people who are completely out of touch as athletes… I’m sure that these LIV golfers will sleep the sleep of the just, all I can hope for is that this causes more than a few awkward conversations on long afternoon walks from people who swing sticks who are usually as  far removed from the societal discussions of the day as I am from being a professional golfer.

  2. 2.

    Martin

    Universal Citation: NJ Rev Stat § 54:4-3.9 (2014)
    54:4-3.9. Exemption of burial grounds and vaults
    Graveyards and burial grounds used or intended to be used for the interment of bodies of the dead or the ashes thereof not exceeding ten acres of ground, and cemeteries and buildings for cemetery use erected thereon, and all mausoleums, vaults, crypts or structures intended to hold or contain the bodies of the dead or the ashes thereof, and solely devoted to or held for that purpose shall be exempt from taxation under this chapter.

  3. 3.

    Steeplejack

    I let myself doze off around 7:30 last night and woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed around 2:00. I’ve been reading for a bit and now check in here to find a nice new thread.

    Re Trump and golf: I don’t think anyone memory-holed how much he cheats—at least not anyone who follows golf at all. There have been numerous stories through the years. And I didn’t think the New York Times story was obsequious. Right from the teaser on down.

    The former president’s barge-ahead style and whim for scooping up shots too hard to make wouldn’t fly on the LIV Golf series, which his Bedminster club is hosting this weekend.

    Other niblets:

    Trump was 15 minutes late (of course) for his tee time with two pros, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, two quislings who have defected to the LIV tour.

    But on the second hole, a telling rhythm for the day’s journey was set by Trump, and it defied the polite golf protocol of waiting your turn.

    After hitting his second shot to the green, Trump ignored other players in his group who had yet to hit and jumped into his cart and roared ahead. He parked within a few feet of the putting surface (also a no-no since it can damage the delicate short grass in that area). Standing in the fairway half a hole behind Trump, Johnson yelled ahead since he had yet to play his second shot and could have beaned the former president near the green.

    Trump put his cart in reverse and moved out of range. But his barge-ahead style of play continued for much of the round. Often, Trump had putted out on a hole while his playing companions were still 125 yards away in the fairway.

  4. 4.

    lgerard

    After seeing Ivanna’s grave-site I can’t sleep

    Where is all the gold gilding and the fake family crest?

  6. 6.

    Steeplejack

    @Martin:

    From the news stories I’ve seen, it’s not clear whether the tax exemption is going to be applied (or attempted to be applied) to all of the property or just a piece. The course definitely exceeds 10 acres, so there’s that. But Trump just gets away with so much crap. It’s a minor thing, but it bugs the hell out of me that he plasters the presidential seal (or something close to it) all over his shitbird properties and nobody says boo. Just once I’d love to see someone from the Bureau of Presidential Heraldry (or other relevant agency) show up and tear that shit down.

  7. 7.

    MagdaInBlack

    @sab: Their behavior does kind of mess with my theory that its the shittiest people who put on the biggest displays at the death of a “loved” one.

    ( as has been my personal experience)

  8. 8.

    ColoradoGuy

    The only way that gravesite could be worse would be if it was next to a gas station, or maybe next to a veterinary clinic as the closest green space.

  10. 10.

    Steeplejack

    Just realized that all of my fat Sunday crosswords are now available. Not to mention Wordle and Waffle.

  11. 11.

    oatler

    Just read that Jon Stewart will be on MTP this morning and I hope he’s not diplomatic. Don’t worry, there’s a Democrat on too… Joe Manchin.

  15. 15.

    Citizen Alan

    A few weeks ago we had to put down my late mother’s dog which was positively ancient and had a number of health issues.  We buried her in the backyard of my mother’s house. Tinker’s grave site looks more dignified than that of Ivana trump.

  21. 21.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    I’m old enough to remember when the “liberal media” cared about Saudi links.

    06/13/2016 06:28 PM EDT

    Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Hillary Clinton return $25 million the Clinton Foundation reportedly received from Saudi Arabia.
    “Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate,” Trump posted to Facebook. “I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!”

    The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had donated between $10 million and $25 million to the Clinton Foundation since it was created in 1999. Other donors included the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Australia and Germany.

    “Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays,” Trump wrote in a separate post. “Hillary must return all money from such countries!”

    There’s always a quote or a tweet​

  23. 23.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @Steeplejack: ​
    It may have not been obsequious, but it’s still their typical double standard. Had a Dem, especially a Clinton, behaved this way they would be screaming bloody murder (eg tan suit).

  24. 24.

    Mimi

    He’s got the Presidential Deal plastered all over everything. That’s not legal.

    I know, I know. But they got Capone on tax evasion.

  25. 25.

    Ken

    @Steeplejack: Often, Trump had putted out on a hole while his playing companions were still 125 yards away in the fairway.

    Easier to cheat that way, though it sounds like he only chooses toadies who don’t say anything when he does.

  29. 29.

    David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    I’m surprised he didn’t keep Ivana’s head above ground and use it as a golf tee or water fountain.

  32. 32.

    J R in WV

    @vigilhorn: ​
     

    At least TFG didn’t dump her body in the Pine Barrens.

    We don’t know that, actually. All we know is that there’s a gravesite, on the course. Who knows what was in the coffin?

  34. 34.

    oatler

    Ex-wife buried on hated businessman’s golf course where he cheated. Get to work, Stephen King.

  37. 37.

    A Man for All Seasonings (formerly Geeno)

    @ColoradoGuy: Or maybe between a crematorium and an adult book store – think of it as Forest Lawn Total Landscapin

    ETA – Cameron got there first @26

Comments are closed.