Since Dwight Eisenhower evicted the South Lawnsquirrels tearing up his putting green, every president but Jimmy Carter has been a golfer.
John Kennedy was known for low scores and a graceful swing. Ronald Reagan, whose scores were a state secret, putted down the aisle of Air Force One. Bill Clinton established a reputation for fudging his score–cheating, some said–in rounds with campaign donors while chewing an unlit cigar on the tee. George W. Bush played the way his father H.W. did, like a race against time. … [Barack] Obama never cuts a corner in golf, say his companions. No mulligans, no 5-foot gimme putts. … But that doesn’t mean the president always behaves like a gentleman. As in basketball, Obama is a trash-talk enthusiast who tries to get into the heads of his opponents and sucker them into taking more difficult shots.
