Donald Trump insists he never cheated while playing golf with Oscar De La Hoya. In fact, the Republican presidential candidate claims he has never even golfed with De La Hoya.
De La Hoya told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he witnessed Trump cheating multiple times when the two played a few holes together at one of Trump’s 18 courses. De La Hoya claims Trump hit four balls off the first tee and then magically found his first ball in the middle of the fairway, despite none appearing as if they would end up in play.
“By the way, I found my first ball, it’s right here,” De La Hoya recalled Trump telling the group. “We’re like, ‘OK, yeah,’ we’re cracking up, not in front of his face.”
De La Hoya said Trump did the same on a par-3 when his tee shot sailed out of bounds.
“We get up there [to the green] and he’s like, ‘Oh, my ball’s right here!’” De La Hoya said. “Three feet away. ‘And by the way, I’m going to pick it up, it’s a gimme.'”
Trump was deeply offended by De La Hoya’s accusations. On Thursday, he told Tim Dahlberg of The Associated Press that it was all bogus, saying he respects the game of golf too much to cheat and that he is a good enough golfer to have won several club championships. He also said he has never played golf with De La Hoya and accused the former boxer of just trying to sell tickets for the upcoming fight he is promoting between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan.
De La Hoya also said Wednesday that Trump is attending the Alvarez-Khan fight, but Trump says he is not. You can read about the likely reason De La Hoya made that claim here.
