After a golf shutdown, Donald Trump back on course with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus

US President Donald Trump golfed with professionals Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus on Saturday, ending the longest stretch of his presidency without a round at one of his courses.

The White House is usually reluctant to confirm the president is golfing. But on Saturday, aides alerted reporters that Trump was at his course in Jupiter, Florida, with Nicklaus and Woods. They even ushered journalists inside the club for a peek.

The president later shared a photo of the trio on social media, and a Trump Organisation official bragged about the match-up, noting that Woods and Nicklaus design courses for the company.

Trump has spent more than 150 days at his golf courses since becoming president, playing significantly more than his predecessors, whom he had mocked for golfing too much.

Aides used to worry about how much time Trump spent playing but have largely accepted it. They say the president is calmest when he’s on the greens.

He is a talented player by many accounts, usually breaking 80, though he sometimes takes mulligans. Par for most courses is 70 or 72 shots.

Trump is speedy too, often finishing 18 holes in three hours by playing through other groups and driving on the edge of the green – a no-no, except perhaps when one owns the course.

He is surrounded by a Secret Service detail, which expedites his movement. (A round takes between four and five hours for most golfers.)

The Washington Post reported in 2015 that playing partners said Trump often cheats.

“When it comes to cheating, he’s an 11 on a scale of one to 10,” sportswriter Rick Reilly said in that story.

The president has denied this.

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He usually wears a “USA” hat and often orders two chili dogs after nine holes, playing partners say. He likes to quiz fellow golfers about current events. He’s complained about the Mueller probe and regaled partners with stories of his life as a single man in New York.

He swears when he makes a bad shot or splashes in the water and complains about his chipping game, players say.

He talks nearly non-stop.

A former aide to Paul Ryan said the former speaker of the House would have had a better relationship with Trump if he understood golf and had been able to talk about it. One of the president’s most trusted aides, Dan Scavino, was his former caddie.

When the president was in Europe last summer, he frustrated aides and lawyers by demanding to visit his Scottish golf course for two days in the middle of the trip, according to current and former administration officials.

Trump often plays with friends or members of his club. Sometimes, the president will call a famous golfer or celebrity and invite them over.

When Trump plays with private citizens, the White House does not release the names or acknowledge that he is playing at all, though video footage taken through the shrubs has captured him. Aides say on occasion, members at his clubs have given the president bad ideas they’ve had to thwart.

There’s another reason for the caginess. The president “insisted on trying to maintain the public perception that he was always working,” former White House staffer Cliff Sims wrote in his book, Team of Vipers, explaining why the White House rarely says he golfs.

Trump is proud of his courses, often describing how he designed the bunkers, turns and the intricate features in detail.

“He shows how he took out trees, put in traps. He loves to describe how he developed the courses,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said in a 2018 interview.

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“He really likes showing them off.”

Ethics experts have suggested it is unethical for the president to return so often to his greens.

Doing so promotes his business and allows people to effectively buy access. In a tweet, the good-government organisation CREW called Trump’s tweet of himself with Woods and Nicklaus “an ad for his side business”.

“A few years ago, it was impossible to imagine a president using official statements” this way, the organisation wrote.

“Now it’s just an average Saturday.”