BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Shanshan Feng led the U.S. Women’s Open as she stepped on to the 15th green Friday at Trump National, but she couldn’t help pausing to take in the historic spectacle unfolding there.
President Donald Trump was settling in to his private box aside the 15th green and behind the 16th tee.
Leaning on her putter, Feng couldn’t resist turning to sneak a peek with the president looking down behind bullet-proof glass.
“I heard people kind of screaming, so that's what I was trying to find out, why they were screaming,” Feng said.
Feng wasn’t alone.
Inbee Park couldn’t make out the president behind the glass as she stepped onto the 18th green, but her caddie, Brad Beecher, spotted him.
“It was kind of funny walking up to the green,” Beecher said. “Everybody was turned the other way, away from us, with their cellphone cameras pointed up at the president. We heard the yelling, and then we saw him get up and wave.”
Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Brooke Henderson were in the first group that passed through the 15th green after Trump arrived.
“I shot a glance,” Thompson said. “Honestly, I was just trying to focus on my shot.”
Trump first rolled onto his private golf club, Trump National, at 3:41 p.m. in a black SUV as part of a presidential motorcade.
Love or loathe this president, it was a historic moment.
Trump is the first sitting president to attend the U.S. Women’s Open.
Lewis felt the weight of that history back at the ninth hole, where her group was held back from crossing to the 10th tee so that Trump’s motorcade could pass.
Controversies aside, Lewis appreciated the history being made