Washington (CNN) A longtime sportswriter who claims in a new book that President Donald Trump frequently cheats at golf likened Trump's habit to a way of "showing you that he's better than you."

"He cheats like a mafia accountant. He cheats crazy. He cheats whether you're watching or not. He cheats whether you like it or not," Rick Reilly told CNN's John Berman on "New Day" Tuesday.

Reilly recounted several stories from his new book "Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump" of Trump allegedly cheating, even against professional players.

According to Reilly, Trump hit two balls in the water when he played professional golfer Tiger Woods and then claimed to have almost tied with him, kicked sportscaster Mike Tirico's ball into a bunker when the two played, and claims to have a 2.8 handicap despite professionals such as Dustin Johnson assessing him to be a 9 or 10.

Trump's caddies also allegedly know to accommodate his penchant, Reilly said -- "He kicks the ball out of the rough so many times, the caddies call him 'Pele,'" after the famous soccer player.

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