Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim were involved in a war of words on the seventh hole during Thursday’s opening day of the Presidents Cup, with Team USA leading 5-0
Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim exchanged words (
Image: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim got into a heated exchange during the President’s Cup opening day, with tensions flaring on the seventh hole.
The American golfer clashed with Kim as Team USA took a commanding 5-0 lead. The drama unfolded when Kim celebrated a crucial birdie putt with gusto, shouting “let’s go”, which led to Scheffler responding in kind after sinking his own birdie to halve the hole, reportedly exclaiming: “What was that? ,” before the verbal sparring continued onto the next hole.
At the eighth green, Kim made headlines again by sinking a long birdie putt and controversially heading off to the ninth tee before Scheffler had the chance to take his shot, which he subsequently missed.
US Assistant captain Kevin Kisner expressed his disapproval to Golf Channel, saying: “They took gamesmanship too far and over the line on sportsmanship and lose some integrity. I thought it was pretty bush league and I told Camilo that if that’s the way they want to do it, then game on. If you can p**s off my No. 1 player in the world, then I’m all for it.”
Sky Sports golf pundit Paul McGinley also weighed in, calling the incident “disrespectful”
However, Kim hit back at the accusations, insisting that not looking at Scheffler’s putt didn’t affect their play. He stated, “It wasn’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game.
The pair speak after the round ( No credit)
“He’s (Scheffler) 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.”
Scheffler himself seemed unbothered and even understood Kim’s perspective, commenting, “I would have done the same thing back at home. It’s all in good fun. We’re friends after. We’re not friends during.”
With a 3and2 win under their belts, world number one Scheffler and his colleague Russell Henley helped the Americans achieve a clean sweep in the opening fourballs in Canada. The competition is set to go ahead on Friday without Kim, while Scheffler will continue with Henley in the fourball, facing Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An.
