When Oscar De La Hoya says Donald Trump ‘cheats in golf,’ this is what he’s talking about

Reporting From LAS VEGAS —  Oscar De La Hoya is a strong golfer and his skill was developed with a strict adherence to the rules and gentlemanly conduct on the course.

Based on that, the former world champion boxer says he’s seen enough from Donald Trump on the golf course to know that the Republican front-runner doesn’t deserve a vote for president.

Attending grand arrivals for the World Boxing Council middleweight championship fight he’s promoting between champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico and England’s Amir Khan on Tuesday, De La Hoya was asked by Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole about a recent video interview in which De La Hoya said Trump’s golf behavior was a revealing indictment of his character.

“I played at his golf course two years ago in Palos Verdes,” De La Hoya told reporters. “I was teeing on the first hole and next thing I know here comes a golf cart. It’s Donald Trump: ‘Oscar, can I play with you?’

“Of course, this is your golf course,” De La Hoya said he responded.

“First ball, [Trump] hits off to the water, gets another ball from his pocket. Hits it off to the left, out of bounds,” De La Hoya said.

Trump said, “Oh, I got another one, just warming up,” De La Hoya recounted.

“Another one to the water. Then the fourth ball he hits -- I know it went to the bushes. But Donald, what he does, he tees off first so he can take off right away. I pipe mine down the middle. So we go off to our ball, and who do we see? Donald Trump, right in the middle of the fairway,” De La Hoya said.

He quoted Trump saying, “By the way, I found my first ball, it’s right here.”

“We’re like, ‘OK, yeah,’ we’re cracking up, not in front of his face,” De La Hoya said. “Then we go on to a par-3, 170 [yards]. There’s a big bush right between the tee and the green, so you can’t really see the green -- you can see the flag, not the green. [Trump] hits and we just know it went out of bounds. We know it. He takes off.

“We get up there [to the green] and he’s like, ‘Oh, my ball’s right here!’ Three feet away. ‘And by the way, I’m going to pick it up, it’s a gimme,’” De La Hoya said.

“You don’t do that in golf,” De La Hoya said, adding there were no side games in play where money was exchanged.

“No money at all, how can I win?” De La Hoya said. “I’m not [voting] for someone who cheats in golf.”

As a jab at Trump, who has made comments critical of Mexicans and Muslims, De La Hoya said he has invited the real estate mogul to attend Saturday’s HBO pay-per-view bout to watch Alvarez fight former junior-welterweight champion Khan, a Muslim.

ALSO

A year after fighting Pacquiao, Mayweather hasn’t ruled out going for 50-0

As Khan bout nears, ‘Canelo’ Alvarez questions credentials of Golovkin, maybe his next foe

John Kasich ends his campaign, leaving Trump as the sole Republican in the presidential race