“Go on, correct him” - Soccer star Wayne Rooney recalls ‘surreal’ experience with Donald Trump on golf course

Former US President Donald Trump and retired soccer star Wayne Rooney spent a bit of time together on the golf course. The unlikely pair actually have a decent relationship. Rooney and his friend Rob Thornley, who was a masseuse, were on the course when they realized the former President was there too.

This led to a "surreal" experience while playing and Thornley recounted the day's surprising turn (via UK Express):

"Wayne was playing at DC United and I went down to see him. We had a night out on the Saturday, and on the Sunday we went to play at the Trump National in Washington [DC]."

He continued, noting that the course was crawling with Secret Service agents to protect the President of the United States while he enjoyed his golf:

"We get to the course and there's Secret Service everywhere. We get on the first tee and we're told that the President was playing on that day. There were snipers in the trees, a boat going around the lake with snipers on it."

He continued, noting that security advised them not to talk to the President:

"[Trump] was ploughing through the course and some people came up to us, told us the President was coming through and not to talk to him. Wayne had actually been coaching Trump's son on the White House lawn before this. He had already been invited to the White House at Christmas and Thanksgiving."

Unbeknownst to the security team, Donald Trump and Rooney already knew each other. In fact, it was the former President who came over to talk to the retired Manchester United star:

"Trump comes around the corner shouting, 'Wayne, how are you?' Wayne had scored a hat-trick a couple of weeks before, but Trump told everyone that he had scored five. I'm looking at Wazza going, 'Go on, correct him'. But he didn't. It was possibly the most surreal day of my life. Me and Wayne were steaming, the pair of us."

Despite the President being ill-informed about Rooney's scoring exploits in the MLS, the football star said nothing. Correcting the POTUS on a minor issue such as this wasn't something seemingly important for Rooney.

Regardless, it must be nice to see someone of such stature gushing about Rooney's performance, even if the numbers were off.

Donald Trump and Wayne Rooney are among the most famous celebrity golfers

Donald Trump is an avid golfer. He owns a few courses himself and spends a lot of time practising on the greens. Even while he was busy being the President, Trump (like most Presidents) often found time to take a quick break to knock some golf balls around.

Even when legal troubles were mounting against the former President, golf was still a priority to him. Like many other retired athletes, Wayne Rooney is also an avid golfer.

Golf is a leisure sport for many, so it's easy for former athletes to take up. It has a low bar of entry, though many of them do become quite good.