Donald Trump ditches bulletproof screen to hijack | Golf News

Donald Trump ditched the protection of his huge bulletproof glass barrier to step out onto the first tee and hijack the afternoon’s four-ball proceedings.

Trump jetted in aboard Air Force One for the opening day of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage to cheers and a standing ovation. Organizers had requested the President arrive during late morning hours and he obliged, decreasing any extra chaos.

Accommodating this timing, however, meant he missed the daybreak tee-offs, with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas going through Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in the 7:10 am opener. And with Team USA 3-1 down, Trump made sure he wasn’t going to miss any of the afternoon’s motion.

After touchdown at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, accompanied by granddaughter Kai Trump, the 79-year-old revealed he checked the scoreboard and immediately rushed to his plane.

“The team is not doing so well,” he informed journalists. “So when I heard that, I said, ‘Let’s go on the plane, we have to try and help them!'”.

USA staff captain Keegan Bradley also admitted he’s hoping for the President to energize his American stars. He spoke moments after Air Force One had soared over Bethpage Black.

“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we know the Ryder Cup’s going to be ups and falls, I’ve got a lot of faith in our boys, let’s see how this last match finishes up,” he said.

DON’T MISS

“We just had the President fly over on Air Force 1, so I’ve got a feeling things are going to turn here.”

Trump arrived and started observing the afternoon four-balls with Scottie Scheffler and JJ Spaun up against Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka in the 12.25 pm opener. And he started doing so behind an huge bulletproof glass screen.

However, it did not take Trump long to do as he happy and ditch his place altogether. The President stepped out onto the first tee and started stealing the limelight for himself.

He embraced Keegan Bradley before proudly welcoming DeChambeau and Ben Griffin. He then obtained a shoutout from the announcer and determined to keep for their tee pictures.

He was back watching behind the screen by the time Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay took on Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

With the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk still recent in many minds, the Secret Service was taking no possibilities. It’s also why heightened security is in place for Day 1 at the Ryder Cup, with TSA-style checks enforced inside the golf course on top of the checks executed upon entry.

A new checklist of banned objects was launched by the Ryder Cup earlier in the week. Among the objects on the checklist was a rangefinder, a fashionable golf gadget which helps work out yardages, which was used in the Trump assassination attempt last 12 months.