The US may have continued its Presidents Cup winning streak, but Australian golfer Adam Scott claimed a viral victory after a bizarre “tug-of-war” handshake with Donald Trump.

The US President attended the final day of the biennial golf tournament on Sunday at the Medinah Country Club, where he spoke briefly to the crowd before play began.

Trump, who is honorary chairman of the event, then greeted each player as they arrived.

When it was Scott’s turn, the President took off his cap and shook his hand for an awkwardly long moment. When Scott appeared to pull his arm back towards himself, Trump gave it a firm yank before finally letting go and clapping the Aussie on the back.

The moment has gone viral, with Golf Digest’s Jamie Kennedy commenting that it “looked more like a thumb war?!”.

Australian Golf Digest dubbed it “not-so-subtle gamesmanship”, and social media users seemed divided over who won the “tug of war”.

“Love it. Scott got the move on him first,” commented one.

“Trump just shook Adam Scott’s hand so hard it looked like he was trying to dislocated his shoulder. More movement in that exchange than a Jim Furyk full swing!” wrote another,

You’ve seen “The Shot,” “The Concession,” and “The Chip” in golf.

This is “The Shake.” pic.twitter.com/VKuMWrQNFd

— Skratch (@Skratch) September 27, 2026

Trump is well-known for his long and very firm handshakes, including with world leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron. US talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert even created a satirical sketch suggesting how they might be avoided.

However, while many see the Trump handshake as an aggressive “alpha” power move aimed at asserting dominance, his interaction with Scott appears to have been an amiable one. The pair exchanged a few words, with Scott smiling and Trump laughing as they parted.

The two men have known each other for more than two decades, according to Fox Sports, which reported that they played a pro-am together in 2004. Scott also attended White House meetings with the heads of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf last year.

Scott, who was playing in his 12th Presidents Cup as part of the International team led by Australia’s debutant captain Geoff Ogilvy, ended up suffering a gutting loss to American golfer Patrick Cantlay of the final day of the competition.

The International team had been leading for the first time entering the final day at Medinah Country Club, but the US made a comeback that saw it extend its Cup dominance into a third decade.

The 17-13 result was the latest frustrating near-miss for the Internationals, evoking memories of the final-day boilover at Royal Melbourne seven years ago.

“The US came out firing … a couple of matches went up 18 … it was on a knife edge all day,” Ogilvy said.

“Some of those one-downs … if they flip, the numbers look good. But it’s a very difficult thing to beat the US in singles, in the US.”

The United States has won the @PresidentsCup 🇺🇸

Rookie Jacob Bridgeman seals the victory and the celebration begins! pic.twitter.com/6NTC3plfXh

— PGA Tour (@PGATour) September 27, 2026

The US captain, Brandt Snedeker, credited Trump – a keen amateur golfer himself – with helping his team rally for victory.

“One last shoutout: Donald Trump. President Trump. He told me, ‘I (am) going to bring energy today for you. You guys need it,'” Snedeker said.

“I told him if we did this, he gets all the credit. So, thank you, President Trump.”

The US President’s appearance at the Medinah Country Club was reportedly greeted with both cheers and jeers by the crowd.

“You know, the fake news media will say I get a very bad reception,” he told them. “But we get a good reception.”

–with AAP