Three years earlier Golf Digest said he was a “legitimate 4 handicap” and the “real deal” as a golfer.

However, in a 2019 book called “Commander in Cheat” the sports writer Rick Reilly accused him of cheating and sabotaging opponents.

According to Don Van Natta Jr, author of “First Off the Tee”, a history of presidents who play golf: “He is a much better golfer than people know. But he’s not as good as he says he is.”

For Mr Trump, delivering a statement to the nation on his hole-in-one perhaps provided a welcome distraction from the latest developments surrounding the Jan 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol.

The congressional committee investigating events that day said it had identified a gap of seven hours and 37 minutes in official White House records of Mr Trump’s phone calls.

That meant they did not know who he was talking to as the violence unfolded and the building was stormed.

Mr Trump has called the committee’s inquiry a Democrat-led “witch hunt”.