Forced to give up his favourite game of football, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said his golfing skills are at par with United States President Barack Obama.

In the 60-minute dialogue session on Aug 18, Najib was asked on his current total golf handicap.

“My handicap will depend on who I am playing with,” he told participants of the Kembara Mahasiswa Nasional.

The students further asked Najib to share details of his golf game with Obama in Hawaii, during the 2014 Christmas holidays.

“When I partnered with Obama, he was quite good but my standard more or less like his,” he said.

A full transcript of the dialogue was posted on Najib’s official blog today.

Back home at the time, Najib was criticised for going on holiday while the east coast states were inundated by what was described as one of the worst case of floods.

The game has been a source of pride for Najib and he reportedly told a group of Malaysian students in New York in September last year that he was the only prime minister who had teed off with Obama.

On football, Najib said he used to enjoy playing the sport but was forced to stop due to a knee injury.