Trump plays round of golf with ‘wonderful people’ Shinzo Abe & Hideki Matsuyama
With a round of golf followed by a plate of hamburgers, President Donald Trump’s maiden diplomatic visit to Asia began with at least some semblance of home.
Trump hit the course Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and world No. 4 golfer Hideki Matsuyama, playing nine holes before retiring to the clubhouse.
“Two wonderful people!” Trump tweeted, along with a video of his swing.
“A round of golf with a marvelous friend,” posted Abe, adding their time on the greens had been “full of spirited conversation.”
The controversial Kasumigaseki Country Club in Saitama Prefecture provided the setting, just eight months after voting to admit women as full members for the first time.
Close allies that chat frequently on the phone, Trump and Abe later posed for photos holding aloft white and gold caps embroidered with the message: “Donald and Shinzo Make Alliance Even Greater.”
Trump has already played golf with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and women’s world No. 3 Lexi Thompson during his nine-month tenure.
But he had particularly lofty praise for Matsuyama, who had branded it “an honor” to be given the opportunity to take to the course with the US President.
“[Matsuyama] is the greatest player in the history of Japan,” Trump told reporters. “Possibly their greatest celebrity … He’s a truly great player, a great athlete.”
The publicity shy 25-year-old, who finished second in June’s US Open, averaged 303 yards off the tee last season.
It was enough for for Trump to call him a “long ball hitter,” adding: “If I come back and say I was longer than him, don’t believe it.”
A senior Trump administration official said that Matsuyama and the two leaders didn’t keep score during their stroll across the fairways.
Meanwhile, it isn’t clear whether the American President used the $3,755 gold-plated driver given to him by Abe last year.
Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Gerald Ford plays golf during a working vacation on Mackinac Island in Michigan on July 13, 1975.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Richard Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell play golf at the Los Angeles Country Club in 1969.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Dwight D. Eisenhower drives down the fairway at Turnberry golf course during a weekend stay at Culzean Castle on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland on September 5, 1959. Eisenhower often carried a club in the Oval Office and took swings while dictating to his secretary.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Warren Harding, left, gets ready to golf on the Piping Rock Golf Links on Long Island, New York, in 1921. He’s with Howard Whitney, second from left, president of the U.S. Golf Association; financier Percy Pyne; and industrialist J. Leonard Replogle.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Woodrow Wilson plays a round of golf in 1916. He played more golf than any other president, reportedly logging more than 1,000 rounds in his two terms.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President William Howard Taft, the 27th U.S. president, putts on the green in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on June 28, 1909. He is said to be the first presidential golfer.
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Photos: Photos: Presidents take a swing at golf
Presidents take a swing at golf – President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden practice on the White House putting green in 2009. Fifteen of the past 18 presidents have played golf.
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