MONTREAL – Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler are such good friends that during the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas, Scheffler’s parents came out to follow Kim play even though their son was at home expecting the birth of their first child. But at the Presidents Cup, the biennial competition between 12-man teams from the U.S. and an International Team composed of the rest of the world (excluding Europe), their friendship is put on hold. “For one week I absolutely dislike him,” Kim said on Tuesday during his media session ahead of the competition. But Kim didn’t shy away from competing against Scheffler, the world No. 1, who beat him in a sudden-death playoff at the Travelers Championship in June. He and Sungjae Im, an all-Korean pairing, had all they could handle in Scheffler and his partner, Presidents Cup rookie Russell Henley, who notched a 3-and-2 victory at Royal Montreal Golf Club in the match that had the most theatrics and even got a little chippy.
That wasn’t the only win for the U.S., who grabbed a 5-0 lead, marking just the third time the opening session of the Presidents Cup has been swept, both times by the U.S. in 1994 and 2000.
Two years ago, the U.S. took a commanding 4-1 lead during the opening session and never looked back. International Team Captain Mike Weir made the logical choice to make four-ball the first session given that the side had won that format in every Presidents Cup held outside the U.S., but not this time. Weir’s team face an even steeper deficit to overcome.
Kim, who had his coming out party two years ago at the Presidents Cup with his youthful exuberance, hadn’t had any reason to pump his fists as the U.S. took a 2-up lead thru six holes. During a practice round, Kim celebrated a putt by running around a green with his arms spread wide like an airplane. “There was a lot of trash talking going on. Once I made it, I had to react at it,” he explained.
Asked if he would celebrate in similar fashion this week, he said, “Absolutely. You’ll see it,” and added, “I feel like it’s that one aspect when you can actually run around the green and not get crap for it.”
To no surprise, Kim tried to get the home crowd pumped up when he poured in a 28-foot birdie putt at the par-3 seventh. He clenched his fists and yelled, “C’mon! Let’s Goooo!’ Scheffler answered with a clutch 24-foot putt of his own and stared down his opponents, roaring back with his own words of trash talk: “What was that?!”
One hole later, Kim sank a 24-foot putt and fist-pumped again, shouting, “C’mon!” as he stepped behind Scheffler, who had his back to Kim and backhanded him his ball from the cup. After Henley missed, it was up to Scheffler to hole from 12 feet.
Kim and Im didn’t wait for Scheffler to putt, which is standard practice. Instead, they walked off to the ninth tee to chat with International assistant captain Camilo Villegas. Scheffler failed to convert and the U.S. lead was trimmed to 1 up.
Asked afterward if it bothered him that his opponents walked off before he putted, something that is typically frowned upon, Scheffler said he didn’t see it. “It bothered me a little bit,” Henley said.
He wasn’t alone. Golf Channel reporter John Wood said that Villegas and American assistant captain Kevin Kisner “had some words” after Kim and Im departed the green early.
“I’m not sure what was said, but it didn’t look all that friendly to be honest with you,” Wood noted.
Scheffler drained a 25-foot birdie putt at No. 10 and Kim answered by sinking a 21-footer to tie the hole. This time, there were merely fist pumps and an exhale from Scheffler. Henley stepped up and contributed back-to-back birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 to win the holes and stretch the lead to 3 up. “Making the team is one thing but earning a point for your team is another,” Henley said. “I just really wanted to get a point today.”
Falling 3-down was too big a deficit for Kim and Im to overcome and one hole later they were taking off hats and shaking hands. Asked about the back-and-forth show of emotion during their match, Scheffler said, “That was a bit of fun. It’s the same thing I would have done at home if he had made a putt and we were playing Wolf and he celebrated like that. So it’s all in good fun. We enjoy competing against each other.
“That’s what it’s like out here. 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. We’re friends after, we’re not friends during, I guess.”
Xander Schauffele stuffed his approach at 18 to 3 feet to secure the first point for the Americans. He and partner Tony Finau downed Ben An and Jason Day, 1 up. “We knew what we were supposed to do,” Schauffele said. “Tony got the party started on that front nine and keeping it close and then getting that lead. He had my back all day. I figured it’s my turn to have his back.”
Rookie Sahith Theegala, who played with Collin Morikawa, struck the knockout punch, stiffing his approach at 18 to clinch a 1-up win for the U.S. over Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott. Keegan Bradley, who made six putts of more than 10 feet, and Wyndham Clark never trailed in their match against Christiaan Bezuidenhout and claimed a 1-up win. In the final match of the day, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay defeated Corey Conners and Hideki Matsuyama 2 and 1.
The U.S. is seeking its 10th straight victory in the match-play competition and 13th overall in 15 editions of the Presidents Cup. American Brian Harman, who didn’t play on Thursday, summed up the importance of the U.S. getting off to a fast start. “The first day is really important and kind of sets the tone for the entire week,” Harman said. “I know when we got way down in the Ryder Cup, it felt like a really tall hill to climb.”
