Donald Trump was forced into humbling U-turn after Jordan Spieth opinion backfired

The U.S. President previously labeled the PGA Tour star a ‘choker’ during his 2016 election campaign, before backtracking just a year later with a flattering comparison

Donald Trump was once forced into eating his own words after calling Jordan Spieth a choker. The former world number one had just endured a calamitous three-hole stretch at the 2016 Masters when the Grand Old Party (GOP) presidential candidate compared him to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney during his election campaign.

“That last election should have been won, except Romney choked like a dog. He choked … Let me tell you, Jordan Spieth choked a little bit,” Trump said. “But you know what? He’s going to recover. He’s a great young guy, and he’s going to recover. Romney can’t recover from a choke.”

Spieth was 7-under par, five shots ahead of eventual champion Danny Willett, as he made the turn to the back 9 at The Masters almost nine years ago, but calamity ensued. After back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11, Spieth found the water in front of 12 not once but twice, and finished the hole with a quadruple bogey.

Incredibly, the PGA Tour star was still in contention to win after birdies at par 5’s Nos. 13 and 15, but a bogey at 17 put him out of too far back, leaving him to finish at 2-under par and three shots behind Willett in a tie for second.

In a follow-up interview, Trump told WOR in New York: “[Spieth] is such a nice young guy and he was doing it so well. … It looked like it was over. He was playing so well. Then he got a bogey, then he got another bogey, then he got a little scared. Then he hit the ball in the water. Then he hit another ball in the water.”

A little over 12 months later, however, and the politician would learn to rue calling Spieth out as a choker. In a true show of his credentials, the 2015 FedEx Cup champion secured his third major title by winning the 2017 British Open, finishing with a final round 69 to become just the second player in history after Jack Nicklaus to win three of the four men’s golf majors before his 24th birthday.

Sitting down with the Wall Street Journal following Spieth’s victory, Trump revealed he has been watching the 31-year-old early in the final round at Royal Birkdale when he started 3 over through four holes. “I saw his first four holes. And I said, man, that’s the end of that, because – you know?” Trump said.

“So for a guy to go – you know, to me, that’s almost worse than, like, a triple bogey, because – but for a guy to go through these horrible holes, hit a bad drive like I’ve never seen – I mean, he was 150 yards right. … For a tour pro it was very unusual. But for a guy to then go birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, that’s a special …”