US PGA Tour officials are preparing for President Donald Trump to make a final-round visit to the Presidents Cup in New Jersey, according to reports.
While the past three presidents are expected to be on the tee for the opening match of the biennial teams event on Thursday, embattled leader Trump has had security officials scanning Liberty National golf course, according to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Trump is expected to visit on Sunday, when the singles matches are played at Liberty National, which is minutes from his spiritual home of New York City.
Trump is an honourary chairman of the event, a role typically given to sitting or former presidents of the Presidents Cup's host country.
"We hope he comes and he'll be welcomed by us and by our players," Monahan said.
It would be the first time a sitting president has attended the event since Bill Clinton was at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia in 2000.
Trump is currently at the centre of a racial controversy, voicing opposition on Twitter at NFL players kneeling during the national anthems at games to protest the treatment of African-Americans by US police.
On Friday, Trump called for a ban on any NFL player who protested during the anthem, calling them a "son of a bitch".
Tiger Woods, the first African-American golfer to win the Masters at Augusta in 1997, took a diplomatic stance when asked on Wednesday what he thought of the protest.
"Obviously there's a lot of unrest right now, whether it's political or racial, in this country," said Woods, who is acting as an assistant captain to Steve Stricker this week.
"And that's something that obviously has happened in the past, and it's happening right now in America.
"So hopefully things can be healed. We can progress as a nation and come together, not just only the near future, but for perpetuity."
On Tuesday, US team captain Stricker said his 12 American players would "respect the flag", while Internationals team assistant captain Tony Johnstone had already ruled out any such protest, saying it has "bugger all to do with us" .
"We've had a discussion already and none of my players want to do that (protest)," Stricker said.
"We are going to do what we always do; take off our hat and put our hands across our chest and over our heart and respect the flag."
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