Donald Trump’s golf game is a topic that is fiercely debated by fans of the sport, so we decided to settle a hypothetical question regarding his ability once and for all: what would the US president actually shoot around the most famous course on the planet, aka Augusta National?

We asked artificial intelligence to crunch the numbers and produce a full 18-hole card to answer that question – and the results paint a fascinating picture of a competent amateur brought firmly down to earth by the toughest test in golf.

What AI Predicts Trump Would Shoot at Augusta

Given Augusta is arguably the world’s most famous and prestigious course, you can probably make an educated guess. The results told us that Trump would be predicted gross score of 86, with a likely range of anywhere between 82 and 95. That’s 14-over-par on Augusta’s par 72 – a world away from the two-under 70 Trump claimed when winning his most recent Club Championship at Bedminster, but arguably a more realistic reflection of how a mid-handicap amateur would fare on a course designed to torment the world’s best.

The AI-generated card has Trump grinding out a 43 on both nines. There are no birdies anywhere on the projection – just seven pars, nine bogeys, and two costly double bogeys, at the par-four fifth and the par-four 11th deep in Amen Corner.

It is, in short, the round of a capable player with a respectable short game who simply doesn’t have the length or precision to attack a championship layout. That’s the best explanation we can attach to the fictional score.

Trump’s Real Golf Record — and the Controversy

An 86 would still be a solid effort for a man in his early-80s, and Trump has never been shy about his ability. He claims more than 40 Club Championships and recently carded that heavily-scrutinised 70 at Bedminster, though, footage that circulated afterwards cast doubt on the number, and revived long-running cheating allegations, most famously chronicled in Rick Reilly’s book ‘Commander in Cheat.’

His history on the course is certainly colourful. In 2007, Trump was famously beaten at the Westchester Men’s Club Championship by 15-year-old Adam Levin, reacting with notable frostiness after blowing a four-hole lead – the teenager later said Trump did not offer so much as a word of congratulation.

On the flip side, Trump has also made a very public claim of an ace, detailing a hole-in-one alongside Major champion Ernie Els in typically grand fashion. With Els just one of a number of former champions to make the rounds with him – even Harry Kane accepted a game with the president earlier this year.

Whether Trump could tame Augusta as our supercomputer suggests is, of course, a hypothetical he is unlikely ever to test in front of the cameras – but 86 feels like a number both his supporters and his critics could just about live with.

Formula 1 is one of sport’s most lonely jobs, just one man in control of his car for almost two hours with the occasional input from their race engineer or other team members in their garage.

There also isn’t much room for error. The cut-throat sport has a reputation for failing to give drivers much of a chance when they finally get their opportunity, as seen with Liam Lawson who lost his Red Bull seat after just two race weekends despite years of hard work to get there.

Many others have suffered the same fate as Lawson in recent years, with Jack Doohan demoted to a reserve role after just six race weekends of his full rookie season. The team went on to replace him with Franco Colapinto.

The list doesn’t end there. Many other drivers have suffered the one-season fate for a Formula One team, with names including; Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri, Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull, Jolyon Palmer at Renault, and more.

The cut-throat nature of the sport hasn’t gone missing during this Formula One season either, with one driver in the paddock fearing that his time could be up very soon, and that his team are preparing to replace him.

F1 Team Looking at Replacements Already

Andrew Boyers via Reuters

Like any sport, age is a defining factor, and when it comes to Formula One, the opportunity to have at least one young prodigy can be much more appealing than having none at all, so when having two becomes a possibility, a team may be prepared to take that leap.

One driver in the paddock feels exactly that. After a very rough start to his 2026 campaign, he believes that his team may be preparing to replace him with highly rated Formula 2 driver Rafael Camara.

Rafael Camara is a Brazilian racing driver who competes in Formula 2 for Invicta Racing and is part of the Ferrari driver academy. The 21-year-old is currently third in the F2 standings, just two points behind second place.

Sergio Perez is concerned that after his and Valtteri Bottas‘ bad start to the current F1 season, Cadillac may be looking to replace them both after their ‘steadiness’ approach hasn’t gone to plan this season.

Cadillac may be the newcomers on the grid and, therefore, may not be expected to be in the points consistently, however, they remain the only team on the grid who haven’t claimed a single point, and their driver partnership makes up two of the three drivers who are yet to secure a point. The other being Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Cadillac’s Formula One team went into the season with the intention of finding steadiness over picking up superstar talents, however, their lack of performance on the track may have changed their opinion as Sergio Perez’s fears grow.

According to Marca, Sergio Perez is planning to make his own way out before Cadillac can beat him to it, suggesting it is linked to fears that the team are completely changing their driver line-up next year.

The rumours have been circulating for a while that his teammate may be making way for a younger star, however, reports suggest that Perez believes he could be on the Cadillac chopping block too.

There is no doubt that a veteran like Sergio Perez will have offers around the paddock because of his experience alone, however, he believes his place in a driver’s seat ahead of the 2027 F1 season is certainly not secure and may go out of his way to secure it before it is too late.