If you watch as many of President Donald Trump’s rally speeches as I do—and I watch them at levels no one has ever seen before—you begin to hear the same lines, phrases and anecdotes again and again.

Watch enough of his speeches and you can predict the next sentence: We were a “dead” country when Trump took over; now we’re the “hottest” country in the world. Everybody says so.

And whenever Trump brags about Qatar’s gift of a luxurious Boeing 747 jumbo jet for his use as Air Force One, he usually deflects criticism by turning to Sam Snead, the legendary golfer, who, according to Trump, said, “When they give you a putt, you pick it up, say, ‘Thank you very much’ and walk to the next hole.”

And why not? It’s “free.”

But there’s a problem: In golf, if you accept a conceded putt from your opponent, you create the expectation that you will concede putts to him. It’s impossible to believe that Qatar donated a $400 million airplane without the expectation of something in return. Of course.

The second problem is that if Snead ever advised golfers to accept conceded putts, I can’t find any evidence for it. Quite the opposite: In his 1962 autobiography “The Education of a Golfer,” Snead wrote: “Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey and never concede a putt.”

My guess is that Snead never conceded a putt, nor accepted a concession. He also said, “Forget your opponents; always play against par.” Par is the standard against which your score has any meaning, at all, and conceded putts have no place in this calculation.

Of course, friendly golfers might concede four-inch putts to themselves or to each other, but for serious golf, every stroke counts. Golf is near-unique in the extent to which one’s score is a matter of conscience, and in which, for most players, the integrity of the game—which means every stroke—is more important than winning.

For example, at the 1925 U.S. Open, Bobby Jones noticed that he’d moved his ball slightly at address on the 11th hole of the first round. He called a one-stroke penalty on himself, even though no one else had noticed the infraction. It cost Jones the tournament.

When he was commended for his honesty, he said, “You might as well praise me for not robbing a bank.”

Despite Trump’s passion for golf, he may not have fully absorbed this element of the game. In fact, multiple sources allege supposed liberties that Trump takes, including accepting overly generous conceded putts, informal drops by helpful caddies and surreptitious improvements of his ball’s lie. Trump’s casual relationship with integrity on the links is credibly documented in Rick Reilly’s “Commander in Cheat.”

But so what? It’s just a game. But in real life Trump accepts too many putts—whether it’s an expensive aircraft from Qatar or millions from donors to build a ballroom—without recognizing that something is always expected in return.

At the same time, Trump gives away too many putts without getting anything back. In 2019, Trump conceded a 15-footer to North Korean autocrat Kim Jong-un, making nice with the dictator on his home turf and raising Kim’s international profile. And in return he got… nothing.

In 2018, Trump conceded a 20-footer to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And since then, Netanyahu, in return, has conceded… nothing.

And last week Trump conceded a 25-footer by lifting sanctions and buying diesel fuel from Russia, helping Vladimir Putin continue his brutal war against Ukraine. Will Putin concede anything in return? Don’t count on it.

Trump doesn’t appear to understand international diplomacy any better than he understands golf. After a spectacular golfing career, Snead died in 2002. Too bad he isn’t still around to give Trump a few lessons in golf, diplomacy and life, in general.

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