MONTREAL: Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and South Korea´s Tom Kim got involved in a spat that rankled feelings on Thursday as the United States swept to a 5-0 lead at the Presidents Cup.
The friends were at the heart of a dispute that sparked complaints of gamesmanship at Royal Montreal, where the Americans swept four-balls to seize command in quest of a 10th consecutive triumph.
Scheffler and Russell Henley beat Kim and Im Sung-jae 3&2 in the most lopsided day one result. Kim delivered a fist pump and some trash talk to Scheffler after sinking a 27-foot birdie putt at the par-3 seventh, only for the US star to sink his own 27-foot birdie putt to tie the hole and respond.
“Looked like he poked the bear, from my perspective,” Scheffler said. For Kim, it was good-natured jabbing as they would do in rounds together. “That´s how we play back at home,” Kim said. “It´s all fun. I made it on top of him and he gave it to me, and I gave it back. I don´t shy away from him. He´s a good friend. But at the same time, this week I don´t like him. I want to beat him so bad, and I´m sure he feels the same way.”
Kim won the eighth hole with a 24-foot birdie putt and was hustled to the ninth tee by Internationals assistant captain Camilo Villegas to avoid a more escalated exchanges with Scheffler.
“There was no reason to stay there and look at him putt. It doesn´t help us at all,” Kim said. “It wasn´t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game.” That, however, irked US assistant captain Kevin Kisner, who thought it lacked respect for them to depart before Scheffler´s putt.
“They took gamesmanship too far and over the line on sportsmanship and lost some integrity,” Kisner told Golf Channel, calling it a “bush league” move. Adam Scott clung to slim hope for an Internationals rally to end a win drought dating to 1998 but the Americans own a 12-1-1 edge in the all-time rivalry.