After playing golf with new US President Donald Trump last week, Rory McIlroy was forced to defend his decision to play via a statement released on Twitter.

In the statement, McIlroy said playing with Trump ‘wasn’t an endorsement nor a political statement of any kind’, saying it was ‘simply, a round of golf’. McIlroy hit back at his critics via social media by saying: “To be called a fascist and a bigot by some people because I spent time in someone’s company is just ridiculous.”

This comes after online commenters rounded on McIlroy for the decision to play with the controversial American leader, namely journalist Ewan MacKenna, who said that the Northern Irishman had ‘tainted his glories’ by playing with Trump and McIlroy had ‘showed his true morals.’

McIlroy was left with a decision, damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Last year, McIlroy tweeted: “With Brexit and the way the US presidential race is going…can we take a mulligan on 2016??” suggesting that he probably wouldn’t have voted for Trump. But such are the divisive times that we live in, McIlroy’s decision will ultimately lose him some support.