The setting was perfectly fitting. 

It took place at the very golf club where President Donald Trump this weekend claimed to have won his club championship with a gross score of 70, an outlandishly low number for an 80-year-old to shoot (even if he were a professional). 

What has transpired at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., as this week’s LIV Golf event is to begin Thursday is akin to a bit of a sleight-of-hand shell game. 

It’s a scenario that’s difficult to comprehend and one that a scant few LIV players are willing to talk about as they’ve spent the past two days declining to speak to reporters.