Billy Foster has opened up on what it’s like to walk the golf course alongside Donald Trump.

It comes as the US President has been working alongside the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to help hash out a merger deal.

It was reported on Thursday that Trump was meeting with 15-time major champion Tiger Woods, player director Adam Scott and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan at the White House, to speak more on the negotiations.

After the bombshell news that the two tours would be merging dropped in 2023, talks have been glacial, but are said to be closer than ever, with European Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley revealing last week that an announcement confirming the merger could come before the Masters – which gets underway in 49 days.

Speaking on Trump’s involvement, Foster recounted how the US President was such a ‘refreshing’ character to walk the course with.

‘Donald Trump is sorting out every issue in the world and now he’s sorting out golf,’ Foster told Genting Casino.

‘He’s a busy man but fair play to him. He’s trying to get stuck in and sort out the world’s problems. If golf is one of them, so be it. He can’t do everything though, can’t he?’

He claimed that Trump was a ‘refreshing’ character and added that the US President was great to walk the course with

It comes as PGA Tour player directors Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and comissioner Jay Monahan have asked Trump to help weigh in on LIV-PGA merger talks  

Foster added: ‘He’s not scared. He says what he thinks. He’s not PC. He’s a bit old school, isn’t he? And it’s quite refreshing to be quite honest.’

Trump had previously claimed ‘it would take him the better part of 15 minutes’ to hash out a deal between golf’s feuding factions during a podcast in the run-up to his election.

But with concerns arising over the current state of golf, Scott, Woods and Monahan revealed that they had asked for Trump to get involved in order to get a deal over the line quicker.

‘We know golf fans are eagerly anticipating a resolution to negotiations with the Public Investment Fund and want to thank President Trump for his interest and long-time support of the game of golf,’ Monahan and player directors Scott and Woods said in a statement.

‘We asked the President to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved.

‘We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men’s professional golf.’

Meanwhile, Foster opened up on what a round of golf with Trump is like.

‘I played with him in New York. I believe when I was caddying for Sergio Garcia. He was a character. Trump’s just a steady player.

‘He’s probably a 10-to-15 handicap, I would imagine. He just plods along. He was entertaining. I remember that. He was good fun to be out with, to be quite honest. That was in 2008.

‘He’s a controversial character. Some of the stuff he comes out with, you put your hands over your eyes and on other topics you think fair play to you, The Don.’

Foster (left, pictured with Woods, Right) said that Trump was ‘entertaing to play with’ 

Foster played the round with Trump back in 2008 when he was working as Sergio Garcia’s (right) caddie

Foster added on Trump’s LIV-PGA merger involvement: ‘He’s a busy man but fair play to him. He’s trying to get stuck in and sort out the world’s problems. If golf is one of them, so be it’

Foster also believes TGL does not have a future in the game of golf but can offer the wider sport some benefits, claiming the stop clock can help improve slow play 

Foster’s answer to slow play

While on the subject of ‘fixing’ issues within the game of golf, Foster has offered up a solution to help resolve the issue of slow play.

Despite the recent success of Woods and Rory Mcilroy’s new venture, The Golf League, Foster believes the event doesn’t have a future in the game – but does have some good features, one of those being the shot clock.

‘I don’t see TGL being the future of the game. It’s not something that really interests me that much,’ he said.

‘It’s hard to comment on it but is it the future of golf, playing against a big screen? I don’t think so but it’s something different for people to watch and they can form their own opinions.’

But for Foster, the shot clock is one aspect that has worked well in TGL and should be implemented across both the PGA Tour and DP World tour.

‘Absolutely, a shot clock could be implemented across the wider game. They played with one at the Australian Open.. I think it was 40 seconds and the clock was there beside the players on the fairway so they knew exactly where they stood.

‘I don’t know if it’s just a shot clock that is needed. I just think it’s the officials, the rules and they just need to be a bit stronger I think.

‘You’ve got to cut a little bit slack if you’ve got a difficult shot but if you can’t get around in four and a half hours — most of the time you get these difficult courses and it’s taking these lads five and a quarter hours like.

‘It drags on a bit too long. It should be sped up a little bit, I believe, hopefully.’