You thought the first two days were dramatic? Well, you thought wrong. For the third round was equally, if not more, exciting as the two teams duked it out against each other at Royal Montreal Golf Club. And as the Saturday Foursomes came to an end, a peculiar accusation reached everyone’s ears. Enter Tom Kim with his claims on how the U.S. golfers cursed at them. But Xander Schauffele wasn’t one to remain mum after hearing those accusations.
“I think the start of the round was definitely a little harder,” recounted Kim when asked about the day’s play in an interview after the Foursome matches. “But as it got towards the end, it got a little feisty out there.” Feisty? Unfortunately, the South Korean golfer apparently heard the members of the U.S. team behaving unsportsmanlike. “I could hear some players cursing at us,” said the pro. “That part wasn’t really — I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand it.”
USA Today via Reuters
Jun 2, 2023; Dublin, Ohio, USA; Tom Kim stands on the ninth fairway during the second round of the Memorial Tournament golf tournament at the Muirfield Village Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Schauffele, however, failed to believe the golfer as he divulged, “I mean, I can speak for myself. I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect.” He went ahead to recount how they were trying to quieten the crowds while the rival duo was making the shots. “We’re trying to quiet the crowd — go back on film, quiet the crowds down when we were hitting. It was fair take, give and go.”
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Then what happened? Well, even the American golfer has got no clue. “I have no clue if anyone was doing any of that,” said Schauffele as he added, “I don’t believe any of our guys would do something like that. So I’m not sure what he was hearing.” Regardless of what happened, the result was in favor of the two members of the U.S. team as they emerged victorious over the South Korean pair.
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The two sets of golfers were battling it out against each other in the Foursome matches on the third day of play. The Kim duo, unfortunately, failed to tie the match as the Cantlay-Schauffele pair clinched the victory with a score of 1 Up, the point of which they clinched at the past par4, 18th hole. Their triumph marked the sixth victory of the American team that day!
Xander Schauffele & Co. dominate the third day at the Presidents Cup
Out of the four Four-ball matches that took place on Saturday, the International team was only able to win one when Si Koo Kim & Tom Kim beat the likes of Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark. The American squad swept away the rest 3 with Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa winning 2&1, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele defeating their rivals 3&2, and Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns emerging victorious 2&1.
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The Foursomes that followed soon after experienced a similar fate as the International team claimed only one match. Taylor Pendrith & Adam Scott defeated the likes of Brian Harman & Max Homa while increasing their total point tally to 7, as opposed to the 11 that the Jim Furyk-led team boasts.
Anyhow, just a day more is left for the winners of the Presidents Cup to get crowned, and till now, it has been nothing short of scintillating. Will the Americans manage to claim back the title or is it finally the time for the International squad to shine after 26 years?
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