The New York Times Claiming Donald Trump Playing In Pro-Am Damages LIV Perception Is Not Based In Reality

Published|Updated

Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. is playing host to LIV Golf this weekend. Donald Trump played in the Pro-Am on Thursday, which triggered the New York Times to write a 1,200-word story about how the former President playing a meaningless round of golf on a course he owns is terrible for LIV Golf and its perception among Americans.

The story is disguised as a golf piece, when in reality it's an excuse for the publication to rip into Trump and remind its readers that anything the former President does in public is deplorable. That even includes playing a friendly round of golf on a course that happens to have his name on it, in the eyes of the Times.

Donald Trump played alongside Patrick Reed and Graeme McDowell in the Thursday LIV Golf pro-am. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

From the title alone you already know what you're going to get: 'LIV Golf Wants to Talk About Sports. Donald Trump Still Looms.' It paints a rather clear picture that this 'golf story' isn't actually about golf.

By the second paragraph, writer Alan Blinder starts tossing around adjectives to describe Trump's presence.

"By Thursday morning, though, LIV’s road show had been reinfused with the political bent that has trailed the second-year circuit as it has convulsed professional golf: the loquacious, limelight-seizing presence of former President Donald J. Trump, who is hosting one of the league’s tournaments this weekend at a course northwest of Washington," the story read.

"Whether LIV can outrun Trump’s shadow, and whether it even wants to, could do much to shape how the league is perceived in the years ahead, particularly in the United States, where it has struggled to gain a meaningful foothold against the PGA Tour."

LIV Golf Isn't Being Hurt By Donald Trump, And Vice Versa

LIV Golf is funded by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, yet the Times seems to believe that Trump's presence at the events is on an even playing field of horror as the league being solely funded by a country with a deplorable human rights record.

"But for every day Trump appears at a LIV event, it is a day that LIV might as well write off as one in which it will not escape the pointed questions that it has spent a year trying to move past, or at least saying it wants to move past.

Former President Donald Trump at the LIV Golf Pro-Am in D.C. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

I'd like to think the staff at the New York Times is smart enough to realize that these types of comments and stories have close to no meaning at all in reality, but then again, the Times takes breaks from living in the real world on a rather frequent basis.

It's May of 2023, people's opinions about Trump have been made clear and absolutely nothing he does will change them, certainly not a round of golf with a couple of LIV players on a golf course he owns.

The same can be said of LIV Golf. While the league is only in year two, people have either planted their flag in LIV's camp and don't care that it's funded by Saudi, or they despise the circuit and every player who joined.

Trump's "shadow" isn't affecting LIV's perception, because that perception has already been made.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.