'Dodgy looking' Trump video clip sparks debate over cheating at golf

In Golf in the Kingdom, a classic sports book about adventures on a mystical Scottish links course - and the spiritual growth that can take place there - the narrator's ball ends up buried in a gorse bush.

- Steven Morris

In Golf in the Kingdom, a classic sports book about adventures on a mystical Scottish links course - and the spiritual growth that can take place there - the narrator's ball ends up buried in a gorse bush. His appeal to the local pro he is playing with to drop the ball clear of the thorns is met with a brusque: "Play it like it lies. It'll come out."

The ball stays put, but the ordeal leads to life lessons being learned. The principle of playing the ball as it lies is a central one - rule 9 according to the world's two main governing bodies, the Royal & Ancient (R&A) club of St Andrews and the US Golf Association.

So it is not surprising eyebrows have been raised at an apparently loose interpretation of the principle by Donald Trump while playing at his Turnberry course in Ayrshire during his visit to Scotland. A viral clip appears to show that as Trump approaches a bunker, an aide discreetly drops a ball just outside it. Trump springs from his buggy, club in hand and heads toward the ball, apparently eager to strike it from this friendly spot.