The golfing habits of some world leaders have often drawn the ire of their political opponents and constituents, who point to the time spent on the course as perhaps better served leading their respective countries.

However, everyone needs downtime and famous political dealings have taken place on the golf course throughout history. And while the Presidents of the United States might have the most famous, and scrutinised, golf games, the leader of a small pacific nation it seems has done something this past week none of them have.

Donald Trump might own golf courses around the world and, somewhat questionably, have a list of club championship titles to his name, and Dwight Eisenhower may have been one of Augusta National’s most well-known members, but James Marape has them beat.

The current sitting Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea is not only the patron of the Royal Port Moresby Golf Club, but was a competitor in the field for last week’s PNG Open held at the club in the nation’s capital.

Marape will meet with Joe Biden in PNG later this month, with the topic of golf surely to come up. PHOTO: Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Extensive research suggests Marape is the first sitting head of state to contest a national Open, while many before him have taken places in pro-am fields on various Tours around the world.

Marape is indeed an amateur, with local PNG players with a handicap limit of 10 allowed to enter the week to play alongside the PGA Tour of Australasia professionals and the chance to win the title.

Playing the opening two rounds alongside Aussie Tour veterans Steven Jeffress and 2019 PNG Open winner Peter Cooke, Marape signed for a pair of 93s to miss the cut by a substantial margin but showed some good skills at times, especially around the greens.

"Hopefully the most powerful man in PNG won’t commit the cardinal sin of golfers everywhere around the world by recounting all of his shots in the national championship to Biden ..." - Jimmy Emanuel.

Thursday’s round saw a near chip-in at the par-5 9th hole from the front of the green, much to the delight of those watching on, with whom the man with the top job in PNG seems a popular character.

According to other club members, Marape is a passionate golfer who loves to play the game and compete when his job allows, and the tough Port Moresby track where South Australian Lachlan Barker emerged with the trophy and winner’s green jacket is a good place to regularly tee it up and test one’s game.

It seems given the short period he will spend in the island nation later this month, the latest presidential golfer, Joe Biden, won’t have time to tee it up there himself, but Marape is likely to bring up the pair’s shared love of the game.

Hopefully the most powerful man in PNG won’t commit the cardinal sin of golfers everywhere around the world by recounting all of his shots in the national championship to Biden, but who knows, the common ground of golf could yet again prove a powerful tool in the relationship development between the two leaders and their nations.

Whether Marape tees it up again in his national Open, or if another sitting leader follows suit anytime soon, is anyone’s guess, but having a head of state so invested in the game in PNG where it is on the rise can’t be a bad thing.

And despite not being required to the first tee shadowed by his security again for the weekend rounds, the honourable Prime Minister was back at Royal Port Moresby on Sunday to take part in the trophy presentation. Meaning Barker has a picture for the photo album and a story to dine out on for many years to come.