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Donald Trump has delivered a slew of promises during this campaign season but the one he made to Rory McIlroy last year — months before the current Republican frontrunner for the presidency had even announced his run for the Oval Office — to preserve the golfer’s drowned 3-iron he has indeed kept.
You remember that misbehaving hunk of steel that McIlroy helicoptered into the water on the eighth hole of the Blue Monster during the second round of the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Championship.
The one that Trump, via a diver, retrieved …
… and, with typical The Donald-like pomp and circumstance, returned to its owner.
"We know Donald," McIlroy said later with a laugh. "He's never one to miss an opportunity."
It’s also the club that McIlroy eventually gave to Trump with the recommendation that the bombastic billionaire retain it as a keepsake. After originally considering auctioning the club for charity, Trump went with the splashy alternative.
TRUMP @realDonaldTrump HAS @McIlroyRory 3-IRON MOUNTED @TrumpDoral Story - https://t.co/iUzrtKg2lI pic.twitter.com/8QhgPBhOiy
— Genius Of Golf (@TOURMISS) February 29, 2016
"We had thought of either auctioning the club or sticking it in a trophy case here at Doral but then after talking with Rory we will get it framed. It was as such a big thing. It was over television, it was the biggest story Rory throwing the club," Trump said at the time last year.
"And an even bigger story was the scuba diver coming up and holding it up, I don’t know where this guy came from but he was central casting," added Trump in his typical understated fashion. "So, we will probably mount it and hang it at Doral. The club represents something. It was the biggest sports story for two days, first the throw and then the scuba diver. He has become world famous."