Scottie Scheffler responds to Tom Kim at the Presidents Cup

MONTREAL – Scottie Scheffler has shown off his legendary talkative side in Dallas circles and demonstrates the highly competitive nature of the No. 1 golfer.

Tom Kim expected no less.

The Presidents Cup got exciting Thursday when the 22-year-old Kim took his celebrations to another level after burying a birdie from 30 feet on the par-3 seventh hole. He spun and shouted: “Let’s go!”

Schaeffler responded by matching his own with a strike of roughly the same length, then turned to Kim and shouted with equal passion, “What’s that?”

And it was tough over the next two holes, especially when Kim made another birdie and walked to the ninth tee box — about 50 yards away — even when Scheffler still had a 15-foot putt to tie the hole (he missed). .

“It looked like he stabbed the bear, from my perspective,” said Scheffler, who won Olympic gold while paired with Kim and beat Kim in a playoff at the Travelers Championship.

It may have been a coincidence, but Kim and Sungjae Im didn’t win another holeshot the rest of the way as Scheffler and Russell Henley finished 3-and-2 on the day as the Americans swept the four-ball session 5-0. Driving.

“He was being himself. That’s how we play at home, and I knew it would happen,” Kim said. “It’s all in fun. I made it over him, he gave it to me, and I gave it to him again on the next hole. I’m not ashamed of him. He’s a good friend. But at the same time this week I don’t like him and I want to beat him so badly, and I’m sure he feels the same way.” .

They are friends. That was evident when Scheffler wrapped his arms around an emotional Kim on the final hole of the Olympics to calm him down.

Schaeffler was competing and winning in a field of 60 players. Match play is a personal matter, and that looked every bit the case in a game that gave a flat day at Royal Montreal a bit of flavour.

“We were up 2 in the game, and he made a shot at 7, had a big reaction, and I made a big shot,” Scheffler said. “So it was important for me to make sure we kept the momentum going into the match. And then I think he made a big putt on the 8th and they came off the green and onto the tee or something.”

Scheffler said he saw a video of Kim “yelling at me” but did not notice.

“I kind of played around,” Scheffler said.

Kim made his Presidents Cup debut in 2022 as a 20-year-old, and has proven to be an emotional spark for the internationals, most notably when he slammed his cap to the ground after hitting a four-ball winner against Patrick Cantlay and Xander. Shovel.

As for leaving the eighth green while his opponents still had a shot, Kim ignored that.

“I shot the ball, and whether he did it or not didn’t make a difference,” Kim said. “There was no reason to stay there and look at him. It doesn’t help us at all. We weren’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focusing on our game.”

Scheffler ignored it, just as he does everything else.

He said: “It is fun to compete and represent our country, and at the end of the match you raise your hat and shake hands.” “We’re friends then, not friends during, I guess.”