Scottie Scheffler displayed his famous trash-talking style, which is well-known in Dallas, showcasing the competitive spirit of golf’s No. 1 player. Tom Kim was ready for it.
The Presidents Cup got intense on Thursday when 22-year-old Kim celebrated a birdie putt from just inside 30 feet on the par-3 seventh hole. He did a spin and shouted, “LET’S GO!”
Scheffler responded by making a birdie putt from a similar distance, turning to Kim and yelling back, “WHAT WAS THAT?”
The competition heated up over the next two holes, especially when Kim made another birdie and walked toward the ninth tee, about 50 yards away, even as Scheffler still had a 15-foot putt to tie the hole, which he missed.
“Looked like he poked the bear, from my perspective,” said Scheffler, who won the Olympic gold medal while paired with Kim and previously beat him in a playoff at the Travelers Championship.
Coincidentally or not, Kim and Sungjae Im did not win another hole after that as Scheffler and Russell Henley finished with a 3-and-2 victory, helping the Americans achieve a 5-0 lead in the fourballs session.
“Just he was being himself. That’s how we play back at home, and I knew it was going to happen,” Kim said. “It’s all fun. I made it on top of him, and he gave it to me, and I gave it to him back on the next hole. 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.”
Their friendship was clear when Scheffler comforted Kim on the final hole of the Olympics.
Scheffler was competing and winning against a field of 60 players. Match play is personal, and this match added some excitement to an otherwise dull day at Royal Montreal.
“We were 2 up in the match and he made a putt on 7, had a big reaction, and I made a big putt, as well,” Scheffler said. “So it was important for me to make sure that we kept the momentum in the match. 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 mentioned he saw a video of Kim “yelling at me,” but he didn’t notice it during the match. “I just kind of played,” Scheffler said.
Kim made his Presidents Cup debut in 2022 as a 20-year-old and became an emotional spark for the Internationals. This was especially true when he slammed his hat to the ground after making a winning putt in a fourballs match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
As for leaving the eighth green while his opponents still had a putt, Kim dismissed it. “I made a putt, and whether he made it or not wasn’t going to make a difference,” Kim said.
“There was no reason to stay there and look at him putt. It doesn’t help us at all. It wasn’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game.”
Scheffler took it in stride, just like he does with everything else. “It’s fun to compete and fun to represent our country, and at the end of the match you take your hat off and shake hands,” he said. “We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess.”
