Keller @ Large: Sports Honesty Reveals A Candidate's Character

BOSTON (CBS) - So actor Samuel L. Jackson says he witnessed Donald Trump cheating at golf? Trump denies it of course, but Jackson is only the latest Trump golfing partner to testify to it.

According to the Washington Post, avid golfer and rock star Alice Cooper once suggested Trump might be the worst celebrity golf cheat of all time. Sportswriter Rick Reilly, who once caddied for Trump, wrote afterwards: "When it comes to cheating, he's an 11 on a scale of one to 10."

But the truth is, dishonesty loves company, and Trump has plenty of it.

Presidents Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton were all said to be notorious golf cheats; Clinton was so famous for his habit of taking illegal mulligans, they had their own nickname, "billigans."

President Obama takes some heat for the amount of golf he plays, but no one has ever accused him of cheating. And Jimmy Carter's record on the links was totally pure - he didn't play golf.

Who cares about any of this?

Maybe we ought to.

The writer Paul Gallico once wrote: "If there is any larceny in a man, golf will bring it out."

And beyond honesty, the sports proclivities of a candidate can give us valuable insight into their character, or lack of it.

I appreciate it when Dolphins fan Marco Rubio stands by his team while campaigning in Patriots country, or President Obama sticks with the White Sox even after leaving Chicago.

What sort of person would like about such an important loyalty?

So in this election year, voters should ask themselves: if I can't trust you to be honest about sports, how can I trust you with the nuclear codes?