President Trump on Sunday congratulated Rory McIlroy for winning the 90th Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
McIlroy won the tournament Sunday, donning the tournament’s signature green jacket for the second year in a row.
“Congratulations to Rory McIlroy on another Great Championship, The Masters! He performed tremendously under intense pressure, something which few people would be able to even think about doing. With each year, Rory is becoming more and more a LEGEND! I look forward to watching him compete in two weeks at Doral. The quality of Professional Golfers today has become extraordinary, each and every one of them. They should all be proud of the way they played at The Masters this weekend! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
McIlroy’s Sunday win, which came with some drama following a finish overall of 12 under par, just one stroke ahead of competitor Scottie Scheffler, narrowly avoided a playoff, according to The Associated Press.
McIlroy joins Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to win the tournament in back-to-back years. In addition to the green jacket, McIlroy will get the competition’s highest grand prize payout ever, $4.5 million, The Associated Press reported.
Trump, an avid golfer and enthusiast of the sport, owns more than a dozen golf courses in different countries.
He has played with McIlroy before and, according to McIlroy, has discussed the politics of the sport as players and others interested waded through a civil war of sorts over the future of golf between the long-standing PGA and the new, Saudi-backed LIV, The Irish Times reported last year.
“He can be influential, he loves golf, I was playing with a Sheikh Hamdan of Abu Dhabi the day he got elected in November, the respect he has in the Middle East, I don’t think people understand the respect he has there, so I think whenever he says something they listen, so that’s a big thing,” McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland, told the Irish Times last year.
Trump-owned golf venues have played host to both PGA and LIV tournaments.
After multiple years of competition play in both organizations, the internal fight has died down considerably, given the PGA Tour’s regaining of momentum and the LIV’s ability to produce golf tournaments in places the PGA Tour does not typically go, ESPN reported.
