MONTREAL — Scottie Scheffler showed his trashy side that is legendary in Dallas circles and illustrates the ultra-competitive nature of golf’s number one player.
Tom Kim expected no less.
The Presidents Cup got spicy Thursday when Kim, 22, took his celebrations to another level after sinking a birdie putt from just inside 30 feet on the par-3 seventh hole. He pirouetted and shouted, “Let’s go!”
Scheffler responded by matching his birdie with a putt of roughly the same length, turning to Kim and shouting with equal passion: “What was that?”
And it was feisty over the next two holes, especially when Kim made another birdie and headed to the ninth tee — about 50 yards away — even though Scheffler still had a 15-foot putt to tie the hole ( he missed).
“From my point of view, it looked like he poked the bear,” said Scheffler, who won the Olympic gold medal in a duet with Kim and beat Kim in a playoff at the Travelers Championship.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but Kim and Sungjae Im didn’t win another hole the rest of the way as Scheffler and Russell Henley closed out a 3-for-2 victory on the day the Americans swept the four-ball session for a 5-0. lead.
“He was just being himself. That’s how we play at home, and I knew that was going to happen,” Kim said. “It’s a lot of fun. I did it on him, and he gave it to me, and I gave it back to him on the next hole. I’m not afraid of 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.
They are friends. That much was evident when Scheffler wrapped his arms around an emotional Kim during the final hole of the Olympics to console him.
Scheffler was competing – and winning – against a field of 60 players. Match play is personal, and that was reflected in every aspect of a match that added some flavor to an otherwise dull day at Royal Montreal.
“We were up 2 in the match and he made a putt on 7, had a big reaction, and I made a big putt too,” Scheffler said. “So it was important for me to make sure we kept the momentum of the match going. And then I guess he made a big putt on 8 and they walked off the green to the tee or something like that. “
Scheffler said he saw a video of Kim “yelling at me,” but he didn’t notice it.
“I just played,” Scheffler said.
Kim made his Presidents Cup debut in 2022 at the age of 20 and proved to be the emotional spark of the International, notably when he slammed his hat on the ground after sinking a winning putt in a four-ball match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander. Schauffele.
As for leaving the eighth green while his opponents still had a putt, Kim dismissed the idea.
“I made a putt, and whether he made it or not wouldn’t make a difference,” Kim said. “There was no reason to stand there and watch him putt. It doesn’t help us at all. We weren’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game .”
Scheffler ignored it, as he does everything else.
“It’s fun to compete and represent our country, and at the end of the game you take your hat off and shake hands,” he said. “We’re friends afterwards, we’re not friends during, I guess.”
