By Joel Beall
New York City is ending its contracts with the Trump Organisation related to running three entertainment venues, including the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point.

The decision, announced Wednesday morning by the New York City mayor’s office, comes after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 during a joint session of Congress to formalize President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. The assault left five people dead, including Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick.

“The city of New York will not be associated with those unforgivable acts in any shape, way or form,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement, “and we are immediately taking steps to terminate all Trump Organisation contracts.”

The course, designed by Jack Nicklaus’ company and built on a former landfill in the borough of the Bronx at cost of $127 million, opened in 2015. It is known primarily for its views of the Manhattan skyline and sits underneath the shadow of the Whitestone Bridge.

A statement from the mayor’s office on Wednesday noted “in its contract with the Trump Organization to run Ferry Point golf course, the city called for a championship level golf course that would attract major championship events.” Though the course’s design was well-received, it never served as host for any high-profile tournament. Ferry Point also was scrutinized for its greens fees, charging New York residents $185 on the weekends despite its municipalities ties.

While the city’s deals with the Trump Organization for a carousel and ice rinks are expected to close within 30 days, the mayor’s office said “the process for terminating the Ferry Point golf course is more detailed and is expected to take a number of months.”

Eric Trump, son of President Trump and executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, challenged the city’s decision in a statement to New York media outlets.

“Yet another example of Mayor de Blasio’s blatant disregard for the facts. The City of New York has no legal right to end our contracts and if they elect to proceed, they will owe The Trump Organization over $30 million,” the statement said. “This is nothing more than political discrimination, an attempt to infringe on the first amendment and we plan to fight vigorously.”

On Sunday, the PGA of America announced it will move its 2022 PGA Championship from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. The next day, the R&A announced it has no plans for holding any of its championships at Trump Turnberry and will not do so for the foreseeable future.

The post New York City terminates contract with Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“I was very happy I birdied the first hole and nobody else did so I got that monkey off my back right away,” Faxon told Golf Digest about that much-talked-about round in November. “It was definitely the most notoriety I had received in a longtime playing golf . . . so when I finished that round there were more calls and texts than a lot of previous rounds I’ve had.”

But while the 56-year-old Faxon’s best days as a player are behind him, he’s just hitting his stride as a golf analyst for Fox. And he will play a major role again in the network’s fourth U.S. Open broadcast since acquiring TV rights from the USGA beginning in 2015.

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WATCH NOW: WHAT’S AT STAKE AT THE U.S. OPEN AT SHINNECOCK

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Related: 2018 U.S. Open pairings and tee times

Faxon joined the Golf Digest Podcast to discuss Fox’s coverage from Shinnecock Hills, his work on the greens with Rory McIlroy, his U.S. Open sleepers, correcting Joe Buck’s on-air “girlfriend gaffe,” and yes, that pairing with Tiger, Dustin and Donald. Ryan Herrington and Joel Beall also joined me to preview this year’s second men’s major. Please have a listen:

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/brad-faxon-talks-all-things-shinnecock-in-our-2018-us-open-preview

The post Brad Faxon on playing golf with the President, working with Rory McIlroy, and correcting last year’s U.S. Open “girlfriend gaffe” appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

So what was the inspiration for the cover?
Unlike most editorial assignments, New Yorker covers are pitched, not assigned. So artists are left to follow instincts and respond to current events. Here I was trying to combine a couple of elements that are associated with the president and make a visual statement that incorporates a point of view with some humor. One tries to avoid being pedantic with this stuff as nothing can kill a joke quicker than somber outrage.

What does your illustration say about the president’s relationship with golf?
Having the president grimly “play through“ in this drawing is, hopefully, subject to some interpretation. To some he might appear determined, to others, oblivious. His affection for golf has been reported on and documented a lot, and his campaign rhetoric complaining about Obama’s time spent on the golf course and his pledges to do otherwise is yet another hypocrisy and broken promise in light of the record-breaking amount of hours he himself spends playing. He also appears to be confronting a difficult lie. But he ought to be used to that.

I’m curious if Trump is a challenge to draw in that he’s so widely satirized. How do you try to bring something new to the fore?
I envy the newspaper political cartoonists who have managed to reduce his face to a kind of formula. Some sublime reduction of lips, nose and hair that somehow resembles him more than a studied portrait might. I wish I had could have a mulligan myself on him here—I’d change a few little things. Pen and ink is an unforgiving medium, especially for those of us who haven’t learned how to fix things in Photoshop.

Illustration by John Cuneo

Similarly, seeing how you do a fair amount of drawings for us, what do you find difficult about golf illustrations, and what do you find rewarding?
I got schooled early on working for GD. It turns out that golfers are just a wee bit particular about the proper way to grip a club and a myriad of other related nuances. Comic artists can usually get away with fudging the details, but when it come to golf not so much.

Golfer bodies are fun to draw—their postures, their body language and their (more extreme) fashion choices. Many illustrators will tell you that green is a particulalry difficult color to work with. I consider myself a drawer first and don’t know enough about painting for it to be a problem, but even I can recognize that too much green can overwhelm a decent drawing.

The post The story behind this New Yorker cover of Donald Trump playing golf appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Welcome to the Dew Sweeper, your one-stop shop to catch up on the weekend action from the golf world. From the professional tours, trending news, social media headlines and upcoming events, here’s every golf-related thing you need to know for the morning of Nov. 6.

Cantlay leaves Vegas a winner
Last year proved to be Patrick Cantlay’s long-awaited breakout campaign. In his second start of the new season, the former phenom showed no signs of a sophomore slump.

Cantlay, whose early career was derailed by injuries and personal tragedy, emerged victorious in a three-man playoff to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

“I had so many lows,” the 25-year-old told reporters afterwards. “To all the hard work that I did, it’s just so different from where I was that it’s hard to describe the feeling.”

Gusty conditions wreaked havoc down the closing stretch — Cantlay bogeyed the final two holes, while J.J. Spaun went from leading on the 17th tee to T-10 after a double-double finish — yet Cantlay’s 67 was good enough to earn a spot in sudden death against Alex Cejka and Whee Kim. After all three bogeyed the first playoff hole, they replayed TPC Summerlin’s 18th, where Cantlay hit a cut 4-iron from behind a tree to the back of the green. A two-putt par from the fringe was good enough for his first PGA Tour victory.

It was Cantlay’s eighth top 15 in 2017, impressive considering he’s made only 15 appearances. For a guy playing on a medical exemption just seven months ago, don’t be surprised if the young gun is on the American Ryder Cup roster next fall.

Richard Heathcote

Rose grabs second straight win
Following his near-miss at the Masters, Justin Rose fell into a summer-long swoon. The past two months, however, have been a different tale.

Riding the waves from his historic surge at the WGC-HSBC, Rose turned in a final-round 63 to capture the Turkish Airlines Open. It was the first time in the 37-year-old’s venerable career that he’s won back-to-back tournaments, a charge that’s changed Tommy Fleetwood’s seemingly inevitable Race to Dubai ordination into a contest.

“I like achieving new firsts,” Rose said. “But the Race to Dubai is still in Tommy’s hands. I just know I need to go and play well in Dubai. That’s been my mentality from the outset, and it’s not going to change. But it’s exciting to be within touching distance.”

Rose has a few obstacles in his path; he’ll be sitting out the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which will only further Fleetwood’s advantage. Still, with his sixth straight top-10 finish, you better believe Fleetwood will be looking over his shoulder when the gold medalist tees it up at the tour finale in two weeks.

Speaking of which…

Andrew Redington

Stenson’s no superhero
The reigning Euro Player of the Year may be sidelined from the circuit’s final two events. Henrik Stenson revealed on Sunday he’s battling a rib injury, one that worsened in the past week due to travel and play.

“It’s not been good and obviously I haven’t been able to do myself justice in terms of the golf,” the 2016 Open champ said after finishing T-35 in Turkey.

And the cause of the injury? Though he didn’t specify, Stenson made a not-so-veiled reference to the HSBC’s infamous pre-event photo op. This year’s shoot involved Stenson — along with Dustin Johnson and Haotong Li — “flying” in the air over Hideki Matsuyama.

“I’m not Superman even though certain people thought I was Superman,” Stenson remarked.

It’s not as bad as battling a chainsaw or getting pelted at a pro-am. Nevertheless, we’re guessing Stenson won’t be a part of next year’s pre-tourney showcase in Shanghai.

Trump plays with Matsuyama, Abe
Being the most powerful man in the world has its benefits, especially when it comes to filling out your foursome. Since winning the election, Donald Trump has played with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els and Peyton Manning. Add another superstar to the list: Hideki Matsuyama.

Teeing it up at Kasumigaseki C.C. — the course that’s set to host the 2020 Olympic tournament — Trump played with Matsuyama and Prime Minster Shinzo Abe on Sunday, as the president begins a 12-day tour of Asia.

Abe has been one of Trump’s closest foreign allies, with the two finding a bond through golf. Last November, Abe gifted Trump a gold Honma driver.

No word if Trump — who calls himself a great putter — gave the struggling Matsuyama any short-game advice.  

Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people! pic.twitter.com/vYLULe0o2K

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 5, 2017

Keyur Khamar

Woods weighs in on distance controversy
Tiger Woods has historically shied away from hot-button topics. Yet, speaking with UConn women’s basketball coach Gino Auriemma on a podcast, the 14-time major winner made some surprising comments about the distance increases seen at the sport’s top levels.

“We need to do something about the golf ball,” Woods said. “I just think it’s going too far because we’re having to build golf courses, if they want to have a championship venue, they’ve got to be 7,400-7,800 yards long. And if the game keeps progressing the way it is with technology, I think the 8,000-yard golf course is not too far away. And that’s pretty scary because we don’t have enough property to start designing these type of golf courses and it just makes it so much more complicated.”

Though few current players have spoken on the issue, perhaps it’s not the most shocking take from Woods. After all, the 41-year-old has spent the past few years delving into course design. Conversely, given many properties tried to “Tiger-proof” themselves during his peak, Woods siding with the distance outcry is somewhat remarkable.

Keep this in mind if Woods is outdriving half the field at the Hero World Challenge in a few weeks.

The post Cantlay cashes in, Stenson’s bizarre injury, Trump plays with Hideki and Tiger weighs in on distance issue: What you missed this weekend appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

In the GIF, President Trump is shown hitting a golf ball. It then cuts to showing Clinton getting hit in the back with a golf ball and falling down as she boards a plane. Here it is:

Donald Trump's amazing golf swing #CrookedHillary pic.twitter.com/vKhxxFCBV1

— Mike (@Fuctupmind) September 14, 2017

Trump did the retweet from his personal account and not the @POTUS handle on a day in which he shared several pro-Trump tweets, including one of a train with a giant Make America Great Again hat. According to the Washington Post, the footage of Clinton comes from 2011 when as Secretary of State, she tripped as she boarded a plane heading to Yemen. Obviously, the real clip doesn’t include her getting hit with a golf ball.

Not surprisingly, the GIF has drawn a lot of attention. In addition to 16,000 retweets and 35,000 likes as of Sunday afternoon, it’s also drawn nearly 20,000 responses, many of them unfavorable to the 45th President. So far, Clinton isn’t one of those responses, although the two got into it on Twitter earlier this week. After Trump was critical of Clinton’s new book, she answered with this:

If you didn't like that book, try this one — some good lessons in here about working together to solve problems. Happy to send a copy. pic.twitter.com/7dmVJ44mZu

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 14, 2017

Something tells us this Twitter spat isn’t over.

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For months now, USGA officials have talked about trying to separate the politics of President Donald Trump from the playing of the U.S. Women’s Open at a Donald Trump golf course. But with the biggest championship in women’s golf set to get underway Thursday at Trump National Bedminster, that task remained an almost impossible one, particularly with the potential for the president to be in attendance at some point this week seeming likely.

During pre-tournament interviews on Tuesday, players naturally were asked if they had any thoughts about playing the Open at a Trump course, along with whether the President should attend the event and if they felt the atmosphere was different from previous Opens because of the Trump factor. While the specific questions differed to each player, their answers were almost universally the same. Indeed, the players have thus far presented a seemingly united front in responding with a version of “I’m here to play golf.”

See for yourself:

“I have my opinion, and everybody is free to have their own opinion, but for me I think I’m just going to have a great week here, enjoy it and I’m excited to play the U.S. Women’s Open and not think of it in a political way for me.” — Lydia Ko

“I take my role as a female role model very seriously. This week is about the golf. The U.S. Open is our National Championship. It is one of my favorite weeks of the year. So this week, you know, I really want to focus on the golf part, and I want to hopefully inspire a lot of young women and women in general hopefully with my game. … I will not comment on any political part this week. This week is about the golf for me. I’m excited to compete in this championship and it’s really purely about the golf.” — Michelle Wie

“First of all, I’m not American so I don’t really know about political stuff, and I’m a professional golfer. I’m more thinking about how I’m going to play well at my stage instead of who is on the stage. We are here to play golf, not here to talk about the politics, so I don’t have any better answer about it.” — So Yeon Ryu

“[When] I teed off yesterday and teed off today, mostly what I was thinking about as a golfer was that this golf course is very difficult. I don’t know, I’m just looking at where to hit it in the fairway and what greens to hit. I haven’t thought much about it.” — Danielle Kang

“I think everybody just trying to avoid political questions because I don’t think they will get any advantage from saying whether they agree or disagree. And I mean I don’t really think that [I] really have much to say because I think it is really up to him whether [Trump] wants to come or not. I don’t think we get the choice of saying yes or no. So, we just deal with whatever we have, and I think that’s pretty much what we can do and this is a great national championship.” — Inbee Park

The post When it comes to Donald Trump, players at the U.S. Women’s Open aren’t going there appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The USGA and LPGA players are hoping to depoliticise this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. That ambition is off to a rough start thanks to a USA Today report that says Donald Trump threatened the USGA with legal action if the governing body moved this week’s championship from his New Jersey venue.

Christine Brennan writes that the USGA’s Mike Davis informed members of the executive committee of the lawsuit during Trump’s presidential run. A person with direct knowledge of the event said Davis told the group, “We can’t get out of this. He’s going to sue us,” after meeting personally with Trump.

That Trump would threaten to sue is not surprising; no name is as synonymous with litigious proceedings. Over the past three decades, Trump has been a plaintiff or defendant in more than 4,000 lawsuits.

Trump’s relationship with the USGA — along with the PGA Tour and PGA of America — came under fire at the beginning of his campaign in 2015, as some of his comments regarding women and minorities seemed counter to golf’s ethos of creating an accommodating and welcoming environment for all. Following the release of Trump’s controversial “Access Hollywood” video, the USGA was specifically targeted by a handful of senators petitioning to move this week’s Women’s Open from Trump’s Bedminster property.

Image/Chris Keane
USGA boss Mike Davis

Publicly, the USGA has remained committed to the event, trying to shift the spotlight towards the action inside the ropes.

“Let me make it very clear that we came here, this was all about coming to a great golf course to play the greatest championship in women’s golf,” Davis said during the U.S. Women’s Open media day. “You know, the USGA since its founding in 1894 has never been involved with politics. Our focus is solely on the game of golf, and we appreciate that there’s some out there that want to make this a political event, but we’re not.”

When reached by Golf Digest, the USGA issued the following statement: “As a matter of policy, the terms of our contracts with championship host sites are confidential and accordingly the USGA will not comment. We are excited that our U.S. Women’s Open Championship week has begun and are focused on providing the ultimate test of golf for the best female players in the world.”

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