After winning a championship at a New Jersey course he owns, the question of just how good Donald Trump is at golf has been on everyone’s lips recently.

The US president is a keen golfer, with how frequently he finds himself playing a round often a source of ridicule from his detractors. His golfing abilities have also been a source of debate, with some praising his abilities, and others suggesting he’s a cheat.

Now, one of Trump’s friends – and a UFC star – has broken cover to offer insight into just how good he really is.

What People Say About Donald Trump’s Golfing Abilities

How good Donald Trump is at golf seems to depend on who you are asking.

The 80-year-old owns and has developed a number of courses through the Trump Organization, with several hosting GA and LPGA events. He often uses it as a channel for diplomacy too, playing with the then Prime Minister of Japan, the late Shinzo Abe, which helped the pair become close. He allegedly has a handicap as low as 2.8, too.

But sportswriter Rick Reilly has written an entire book on Trump’s supposed status as a cheater around the golf course. In that, he claims Trump earned the nickname of ‘Pele’ owing to caddies getting so used to seeing him kick his ball back into the fairway.

However, those that have played with him seem to have been impressed. South African Ernie Els said he saw Trump make a hole-in-one back in 2022 as they played a round at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. “He hits the ball better than I’ve seen any,” he said.

Bryson DeChambeau is another on record for claiming Trump to be a “really good golfer.” The 32-year-old and two-time Major champion added: “He stripes it down the middle of the fairway and has good iron game and putts it pretty well.”

The president is often found playing rounds with sports stars and celebrities, with even England captain Harry Kane speaking positively of his ability.

Now, one sports star has gone a step further, offering a detailed assessment of Trump’s golfing ability.

UFC Star Shares Round of Golf With Donald Trump

Trump is an “amazing golfer”, according to UFC welterweight Bo Nickal.

The US president invited Nickal to come and play golf with him after his fight at UFC 290. The main event that night saw Alexander Volkanovski defeat Yair Rodriguez by TKO, with Nickal opening the main card and defeating Val Woodburn by knockout.

His performance clearly caught Trump’s attention, who later invited him to play a round of golf alongside NFL legends Lawrence ‘LT’ Taylor and Ottis ‘OJ’ Anderson. Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Nickal recounted the experience and drew on his take on Trump as a golfer.

“Him and LT were playing for a thousand bucks a hole or something. Trump, I golfed with him; the dude’s an amazing golfer,” said Nickal. “I couldn’t believe it, how good he was. Every fairway, right down the middle, hit every green, making all his putts.”

Nickal explained that after Trump had won the first nine holes “pretty easily”, the president found himself tied with Taylor going into the 18th.

“It was like it all came down to this last hole,” he continued. “And they both hit great drives, and LT hit like a good approach shot, and Trump gets up there. He’s probably 150 yards from the green, and he sets up, just stripes it straight at the pin.”

Nickal said Trump didn’t even watch his shot land. He just went back to the cart and sat down.

Nickal has established himself as one of Trump’s favourite fighters. This was evidenced at UFC Freedom 250, where the welterweight embraced Trump after his TKO win over Kyle Daukaus, and the president then called him during the post-fight press conference.

New Liverpool wonderkid Ifeanyi Ndukwe has been one of their standout performers in pre-season, but he can only play once more for the club this year.

The Reds have had a mixed pre-season. They opened up their pre-season with a 4-2 victory over Sunderland, before beating Championship outfit Wrexham at Yankee Stadium.

Liverpool then lost 4-2 to Premier League rivals Leeds United, while on Sunday, they were beaten 3-2 by Ligue 1 side Monaco at Anfield.

Anondi Iraola’s side took a 2-0 lead inside the opening half-an-hour thanks to goals from Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. But three unanswered goals from the away side meant they were beaten for the second consecutive match.

Ifeanyi Ndukwe Can’t Play Competitive Matches For Liverpool in 2026

Andoni Iraola via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

Ndukwe has been named in the starting lineup for all four of Liverpool’s pre-season matches so far. The 18-year-old, who joined the club from Austria Wien in a £2.6 million deal this summer, has been superb, and he was again impressive against Monaco.

The Austria U21 international, who was playing alongside Virgil van Dijk in the centre of defence, played the opening 45 minutes before being subbed off at half-time. He was successful in all four of his duels, won all three of his tackles and completed 23 of his 24 passes.

He’s earned rave reviews for his performances but, unfortunately, he will not be able to play for Liverpool when the 26/27 campaign officially gets underway.

That’s due to work-permit reasons. As first reported by the Athletic, Ndukwe does not have the required number of points on his work permit to play for Liverpool’s first team this upcoming campaign.

That means the defender, who stands at 6 foot 6 inches, is expected to go out on loan in order to play first-team football. He will have one more opportunity to put on a red shirt this year; when Liverpool face Como at Anfield in their final pre-season match on Sunday August 16.

Liverpool’s issues at centre-back mean Ndukwe would likely have been in and around the first-team should he have been available.

Austria Wien Chief Speaks Out About Ndukwe’s Liverpool Move

Speaking after Ndukwe’s move to Liverpool was completed, Austria Vienna sporting director Michael Wagner explained why it was ‘a win-win situation’ for both clubs.

He said, per the Liverpool Echo: “It is a great honour that one of the world’s best football clubs has shown interest in one of our home-grown players. The agreement with Liverpool FC is structured in such a way that Austria Vienna will come out well in any scenario, regardless of whether the option is exercised or not.

“For me, this is a clear win-win situation for both clubs. Above all, this story is a great tribute to the excellent work that is done in our academy every day. We have a number of players here with enormous potential, which we want to exploit even more in future and thus become a springboard for talented players into Europe’s top leagues – Austria Vienna is the right club for this.

“We were aware that there would be a lot of interest in our three U17 team players in particular after they reached the World Cup final.

“Basically, our goal is for our talented players to first establish themselves in the first team and thus recommend themselves for higher tasks.

“In this case, the overall package – both Liverpool FC’s offer to Austria and the prospects for Ifeanyi Ndukwe – was a perfect fit for everyone involved.”

Fabrizio Romano has issued an update on Liverpool‘s attempts to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain this summer. The Reds are still looking for their marquee winger signing, with Andoni Iraola still requiring a replacement for Mo Salah, who left at the end of his contract this summer.

But truly elite wingers are not easy to sign, nor at they cheap, and while Liverpool have money to spend, they are not likely to spend the kind of money they spent last summer. With Barcola a two-time Champions League winger who is coming off an impressive World Cup, PSG want huge money for the winger, and that remains the sticking point between the two clubs.

Romano’s update on Liverpool’s Barcola pursuit

Reuters/Sam Navarro

Speaking on his YouTube show, transfer guru Romano issued an update on Liverpool’s Barcola chase. He said: “I wanted to tell you about Bradley Barcola. My understanding is that Liverpool remain in active talks, in daily talks. The talks, financially, there is still no agreement, but personal terms are not an issue at all. Liverpool remain in active talks with Paris Sain-tGemrain for Bradley Barcola. Liverpool know they need to improve their opening conversations.

“There were reports of Liverpool sending an official bid but telling PSG they don’t have the money, but it’s not the case. Liverpool started club-to-club talks, and indicated some numbers. They are still very far away from what PSG want, but Liverpool remain in conversations with PSG. Obviously, if PSG can land Ferran Torres, after Akliouche and Mika Godts, obviously there is going to be a lot of strikers, so this could facilitate the move of Bradley Barcola to Liverpool.”

Liverpool’s record signing so far

• Alexander Isak: £125 million from Newcastle United (September 2025)
• Florian Wirtz: £116 million from Bayer Leverkusen (June 2025)
• Darwin Núñez: £73.7 million (€85m) from Benfica (July 2022)
• Virgil van Dijk: £75 million from Southampton (January 2018)
• Hugo Ekitike: £69 million from Eintracht Frankfurt (July 2025)

Liverpool must find a compromise

REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Liverpool will undoubtedly helped if PSG manage to wrap up the signing of Torres from Barcelona, but PSG are still likely to demand at least £130million, even if they drop their price a little. But ultimately, the Reds cannot go without a truly top winger, and they are going to find it hard to land one for under £100million.

“He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that, I’d love to get Barcola at Liverpool.” – Jamie Carragher

PSG have seen English clubs pay record fees for the likes of Morgan Rogers and Elliot Anderson this summer, and while both are very good players, they have have won nothing, and the World Cup aside, neither have played at the very top level. Barcola is proven at the top level, and it is no surprise that European clubs are now using the English deals as context for their own asking prices.

Jamie Carragher has said: “He’s a great player, there’s no doubt about that, I’d love to get Barcola at Liverpool.” Meanwhile, PSG boss Luis Enrique said last year: “He’s having an outstanding, remarkable season. We have complete faith in him and he’s repaying that faith with hard work; this is the best season of his career so far.”