Obama Cut His Round of Golf Short to Watch SEAL Team 6 Kill Bin Laden

On this morning, Obama calls it quits after nine holes, a curious turn for a golfer who typically insists on 18 holes during rounds that last as long as six hours. No explanation is offered to the media. The lone pool reporter is forced to guess at the reason, blaming the somewhat “chilly weather and rain.”

Back at the White House, Obama, still clad in a white golf shirt, khaki pants and a navy blue windbreaker, doesn’t return to the residence, as he usually does after a round. Instead, he strides to the Oval Office, swaps his black-and-white cleats for dress shoes, hustles downstairs and takes a seat inside the Situation Room. Here the president, still dressed for a Sunday round, watches a monitor as Navy SEAL Team Six storms a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and kills Osama bin Laden.

That was Obama’s 66th round of golf as president. Not that anyone is counting.

In December 2011, a Republican committee named Romney Victory Inc. set up FortyFore.com, which counts the number of rounds Obama has played. The site says a donation of $18 “is all it takes to send President Obama on a permanent golfing vacation.” At the Republican National Convention in August, at least five speakers told jokes about Obama’s golf game. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s quip was typical: “For four years, Barack Obama has been running from the nation’s problems. He hasn’t been working to earn re-election. He’s been working to earn a spot on the PGA Tour.”

Too much golfing to run the country? Don’t sleep on Barry O.

[ESPN]