If Ronald Reagan played golf: rated 77, best at nerve

Ronald Reagan as a golfer: scouting report

Ronald Reagan spent his early working life calling Chicago Cubs games on the radio in Des Moines, often recreating the action from telegraph reports, and he later played George Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American. Sports were in his blood long before politics. In golf he would be the steady performer who never looks rattled. His nerve is the top of his card, which suits a man who was comfortable in front of a microphone, a camera and a crowd for his entire career.

His short game is the second strength. As a young man he spent his summers as a lifeguard on the Rock River near Dixon, Illinois, and he was credited with dozens of rescues, a job that rewards calm judgment in the moment. That calm shows up in chips and pitches played under pressure. He also played football at Eureka College, and on the golf course his course IQ is good, his putting solid and his irons steady. Nothing in his game is flashy, but very little of it breaks down.

Driving is the soft spot on his card, and The Long Course Championship is his worst major because of it. The Links Open is his best. Wind, firm ground and the patience to keep the ball low reward a player who stays even keeled through a long afternoon. Draft him in the middle to late rounds as a calm, reliable scorer, and pair him with a big hitter who can handle the long par fours.

Plays like A cool performer who plays his best with a crowd watching

Put Ronald Reagan in your lineup

5 rolls, a team of five, four majors. Can you win the Grand Slam? Free, no account.