Donald Trump says it is โwonderfulโ to be watching the likes of Rory McIlroy playing golf again as the US President underlined the importance of getting sport back quickly for the โpsycheโ of the nation.
The sporting calendar has been thrown into disarray by the coronavirus pandemic in recent months, but events are slowly beginning to return across the world.
UFC has returned behind closed doors and the Bundesliga became the first top league to resume this weekend, when there was live golf on TV in the form of the TaylorMade Driving Relief โ a two-team skins challenge over 18 holes.
World number one McIlroy teamed up with Dustin Johnson against Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff in Sundayโs charity event at Seminole Golf Club, which raised money for coronavirus charities.
President Trump was among the viewers and the keen golfer did a mid-competition interview.
Live golf is on today.#DrivingRelief pic.twitter.com/BCaeWqtt2Q
โ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2020
in a phone interview. โItโs a wonderful thing to see. Iโm getting a little tired watching 10-year-old golf tournaments where you know who won. Itโs very nice to be watching and very nice to be with you.โ
Trump said โitโs really so good to see these great players playingโ having been unable to play himself since the coronavirus situation started.
He used the interview as an opportunity to have another dig at China, where the outbreak of the disease began, and believes more sporting events will be back soon.
โWe want to get sports back,โ he said. โWe miss sports, we need sports in terms of the psyche โ the psyche of our country โ and thatโs what weโre doing.
โI had great talks with Jay (Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner), I had great talks with Seth Waugh (PGA of America CEO) and anybody having to deal with the sports. Some are on the commission and some arenโt and theyโve called me up individually.
โBut weโre getting it back. Weโre getting it back and itโs going to be fast.
โItโll start off with small crowds, if any. You saw UFC the other night, they had really just a lighted ring in the middle of an empty arena and Iโm not sure that so many people missed the fans. I donโt think so in that particular case.
โBut, look, we want to get it back to where it was. We want big, big stadiums loaded with people.
โWe donโt want to have 15,000 people watching Alabama โ LSU, as an example, we want to have the masses, we want to have big crowds.
โRight now thatโs not what theyโre planning, but you never know what happens. Things can happen very quickly.
โWeโre looking at vaccines, weโre looking at cures, and we are very, very far down the line. I think people are going to be very impressed with what is being developed right now, some tremendous things.
โI have meetings on it every day and we have the most brilliant minds working on it and weโre working worldwide on that also. We have no ego when it comes to that.
โBut I think some tremendous things are going to be coming out very soon.โ
The first four PGA Tour events will not have fans as golf restarts behind closed doors but Trump says โafter that hopefully itโll be backโ to having supporters in the stands.
โWe really want to see it get back to normal, so when you have all of those thousands, tens of thousands of people, going to your majors and going to golf tournaments, we want them to have that same experience,โ he said on NBCโs broadcast shown by Sky Sports.
A 356-yard drive? Impressive.
โ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2020
Outdriving Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy? Also impressive.@Matthew_Wolff5 earned $100,000 towards the CDC Foundation via the TaylorMade Bonus with the win in this #DrivingRelief long-drive competition. pic.twitter.com/ANpehuSYF3
โWe donโt want them to be having to wear masks and be doing what weโve been doing for the last number of months because thatโs not getting back to normal.
โWe want to be back to normal, where you have the big crowds, and theyโre practically standing on top of each other and theyโre enjoying themselves. Not where theyโre worried.
โBut in the meantime they do the social distancing, and they practice that and theyโve been doing really well.โ