8:29 AM PT -- Pettersen is now claiming the Norwegian news outlet twisted her words from the interview ... and claims she NEVER called Trump a cheater.

"Sometimes you do interviews and media will twist whatever word/ saying to make a headline! It’s shocking to see... this is what I would call #fakenews."

She added, "Why would I call someone a cheat ... never!"

So far, the Norwegian outlet has NOT changed their article.

Donald Trump is being called out (kinda) by one of the best golfers on the planet -- who says POTUS "cheats like hell" every time they golf ... but insists she's got nothing but love for the guy.

Suzann Pettersen is a 15-time LPGA Tour champ -- she's a legend -- and she's been golfing with Trump for years.

So, when she sat down with the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang, they wanted to know what Trump was like in real life.

"I’ve got to know Trump so well that I don’t take everything he says literally," Pettersen says ... "Yeah, you’ll never meet another person who loves himself as much as he does, but I have also met him on another level altogether, before he was president. I know how much he cares."

"He called me once a month and asked how things were going. It was always about golf. He is totally golf-crazed. Golf is the only thing the man thinks about."

So, how's Trump on the golf course?

"He cheats like hell," Pettersen said laughing ... "So I don’t quite know how he is in business."

"They say that if you cheat at golf, you cheat at business. I’m pretty sure he pays his caddie well, since no matter how far into the woods he hits the ball, it’s in the middle of the fairway when we get there."

"He always says he is the world’s best putter. But in all the times I’ve played him, he’s never come close to breaking 80."

"But what’s strange is that every time I talk to him he says he just golfed a 69, or that he set a new course record or won a club championship some place,."