Barack Obama: America's (Not So Great) Golfer-in-Chief

What Barack Obama's little known habits on the links reveal about his approach to the presidency

Pete Souza / White House

In this handout from the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden putt on the White House putting green April 24, 2009

Presidents, like normal people, tend to seek in others what they admire about themselves. Which brings us to the par-5 12th hole at Woodlawn golf course in Fort Belvoir, Va., on Father's Day. Vice President Joe Biden, an 8 handicap, has leaked a 3-wood into the trees near the green. He stands amid the underbrush, talking with his match-play teammate, the President of the United States.

Take a drop or risk the trees? A few inches off either way, and the ball will ricochet into the forest. The stakes aren't high: Barack...

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