Donald Trump invoked the great Sam Snead on Monday when he compared taking ownership of a $400 million jet, a gift from Qatar, to a “gimme” in golf. Using a golfing metaphor to explain his take on foreign policy was probably a first even for the US president.
“There was an old golfer named Sam Snead, did ever you hear of him?” Trump asked reporters. “He was a great golfer, he won 82 tournaments, and he had a motto: When they give you a putt, you pick up your ball, say ‘Thank you very much’ and walk to the next hole.
“A lot of people are stupid. They say, ‘No, no. I insist on putting it’. Then they putt it, they miss it. And their partner gets angry at them. You know what, remember that. Sam Snead. When they give you a putt, you pick it up, you walk to the next hole and say, ‘Thank you very much’.”
Obviously, Snead, who won the PGA Championship three times between 1942 and 1951, had mixed views on conceding putts. The quote that comes nearest to what Trump referenced and is among Snead’s top 25 quotes is: “Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey and never concede a putt.”
Either way, Trump wrote the gimme into political history, even though it is not among golf’s rules. There is no official rule in the game regarding the gimme putt and is up to a player’s match play opponent to decide if the ball is so close to the hole that the chances of missing are slim.
There will be no gimmes at the US PGA this week in Quail Hollow as it is a stroke play event, but allowing an opponent in match play to pick up a ball that is maybe 18 inches from the hole speaks to the character of the game and to the character of the people playing.
And it is not always pleasant.
In the 2015 Solheim Cup, a match involving Europe’s Suzann Pettersen and Charley Hull against Brittany Lincicome and Alison Lee, was all square on the 17th green. Petterson and Hull both missed their birdie putts to leave Lee with an a 12-footer to take the USA 1-up with one to play.
Her effort rolled 18 inches past the hole and, with Pettersen and Hull apparently making their way towards the 18th tee, the American picked up her ball for the half, assuming the putt had been given. Rookie error. Pettersen didn’t see it that way.
The Norwegian pointed out that they had not conceded the putt and Lee was hit with a one-shot penalty. European captain Carin Koch, along with assistant Annika Sorenstam, attempted to convince Pettersen to change her mind, but it is not possible to concede a putt retroactively, so the decision stood. Pettersen and Hull eventually went on to win the 18th hole and take the match.
In the 2024 President’s Cup, a match between the US and the rest of the world, bruised egos and indignant stares were all on the menu. A fired-up Tom Kim, playing with Si Woo Kim, was asked to roll in a 3ft putt, to save par, by opponents Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Kim made the putt, but after he retrieved his ball from the hole he demonstratively laid down his putter on the green to show how close the ball was to the cup, clearly miffed that the Americans had asked him to take it. He looked around, shrugged his shoulders and was still muttering about it as he walked off the green.
It has happened numerous times in the Ryder Cup. In 2021 at Whistling Straits Europe’s Lee Westwood was left waiting at the sixth hole for a thumbs-up from the Americans that his short putt was good. But the same pair, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, didn’t flinch as an incredulous Westwood, known as a shaky putter, was forced to hole out.
The reality is that acts of sportsmanship in conceding putts inside putter handle length can also become acts of gamesmanship whenever the stakes are high. The ambiguity of what is close enough or too far away to be given does move gimmes from a gesture of goodwill towards more of a tactical ploy and a form of psychological warfare. Gimme grievance can become a thing.
Then again, a moment in golf so famous that it was named “The Concession” took place at Royal Birkdale where Jack Nicklaus gave Tony Jacklin a two-foot putt on the 18th hole to end the 1969 Ryder Cup in a tie.
That meant the US retained the cup and history has viewed the moment as one of epic sportsmanship and goodwill from Nicklaus.
But it was a moment not viewed with such warmth when it happened, with many of Nicklaus’ team-mates and captain Snead enraged at the act of generosity. Had Jacklin been made take the putt and missed it would have given the US an outright win.
“When it happened, all the boys thought it was ridiculous to give him that putt,” Snead would later say.
Trump was probably right. Snead didn’t seem like the kind to pass up on taking a gimme or a 747. Giving one, that’s another matter.
