President Obama: 'Derek Jeter stole money from me'


You never know who's going to surprise you by secretly being good at golf. President Obama, for one, carries a handicap of around 17 (President George H. W. Bush, by comparison, had a handicap in the 20s while in office). But that didn't keep Obama out of trouble when he went up against five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter on the green last November in Las Vegas, since he apparently had no idea the former Yankee had a trick or two up his sleeve. The president detailed the events at a Democratic fundraiser Monday night, hosted by Las Vegas Sun owner Brian Greenspun:
Obama kicked off the fundraiser recalling a trip to Nevada last November when he and Greenspun golfed with former Yankees great Derek Jeter."He and Derek Jeter stole money from me at Shadow Creek," Obama said of Greenspun, referring to the course in North Las Vegas. "It was clearly a set-up, because when we got to the practice range, he was shanking balls everywhere. I said, 'You play golf Derek?' And he said, 'I just started two weeks ago.'"They gave Jeter 30 strokes, Obama said, but he realized that was a mistake as soon as they were on the first hole. Jeter crushed him, he said."We had to take a picture of me handing Derek Jeter money at the end of the game. Despite that, Brian is a great friend." [Politico]
Mr. President, sounds like you got hustled!
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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