It is one of the biggest weeks in golf, yet The Masters is likely to be conspicuous by the absence of one of the sport’s biggest names.
Donald Trump, the US President, might be an avid golfer and owner of some of the most prestigious properties in the sport, including Trump Turnberry and Trump International Doral, yet “his personality doesn’t fit” at Augusta, according to Butch Harmon, one of the most respected voices in the sport and Tiger Woods’ former coach.
Trump is unlikely to grace this hallowed and idyllic corner of Georgia this week, despite so often being part of the sport’s narrative.
Eager to set the agenda, as was the case when rumours swirled surrounding the return to golf of his “good friend” Woods.
That was before the 15-time major champion decided to “step away and seek treatment” following a DUI arrest after another vehicle accident.
“I think you can answer that [why Trump is unlikely to be at Augusta] yourself,” Harmon said on a media call, including The Independent. “Because he’s Trump. I think he is who he is. He’s full of himself. He’s the type of person that I don’t think fits the profile of an Augusta member.”
Augusta has had former presidents as members, despite its exclusivity, reportedly limited to 300. Notably, Dwight Eisenhower retains a great legacy at the club, with a cabin and tree on the course named after him.
And Harmon has known Trump his entire life, with his father, Claude Harmon, a Masters champion in 1948, the former head professional at the prestigious American course Winged Foot, where Trump was a long-time member.
“I’ve known Donald pretty much my whole life. What you see is what you get with him. And I don’t think his personality fits the membership at Augusta,” Harmon claims.
“I don’t think that [being president] has anything to do with it, because there’s been a lot of other presidents who played golf, and they’re not members. Clinton, Obama… they played golf. I think it’s just his personality doesn’t mix with that particular club. That’s as politically correct as I can be.”
With a legendary career working on the swings of Woods, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, among others, Harmon has emerged as a fine pundit and will form part of Sky Sports’ coverage at Augusta this week.
But he was absent at last year’s Ryder Cup, which descended into chaos due to the behaviour of some American fans, with Rory McIlroy claiming “horrific” abuse directed at him and his family throughout the intense battle, with Europe eventually prevailing 15-13.
“I thought the Ryder Cup was disgusting,” said Harmon, with his fellow commentator Ewen Murray casting doubt on his future due to the scenes at Bethpage Black. “It was embarrassing being an American. I love the Ryder Cup, it’s my favourite one to broadcast and being from New York, I had planned to work with the Sky Sports team, but I decided to pull out for that main reason.
“I felt we would spend more time talking about what’s going on in the gallery with the fans being unruly than we would the golf and I just didn’t feel I wanted to be part of it.
“I’m disgusted with the way it was. But this is the beauty of Augusta. These are the best-behaved patrons in all of golf. I love the Open Championship because all the gallery people understand golf and they understand how to cheer.
“But this place, it’s like a holy grail of golf in the US, and it’s difficult to get a ticket to come to this event. It’s probably the hardest event to get a ticket to. The patrons there are very well behaved, because they’re the same people that come back year after year.
“I hated the way things were going at the Ryder Cup. I thought it was a terrible embarrassment for the United States, and let’s hope it never happens again.”
Watch more live Masters coverage than ever before, exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW from Thursday 9 April
