Tom Kim at the Presidents Cup on Sunday.
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MONTREAL — Tom Kim, his Sunday match with Sam Burns over and the Presidents Cup over, packed his golf bag to the right of the 18th green at Royal Montreal, did an interview with Canadian TV and another with Golf Channel, then went on his way. cameras and those gathered around to make his way to the two people he had seen at the back of the green. They had been on his mind, actually.
Xander Schauffele AND Jim Furyk.
The day before, Schaufelle, together with Patrick Cantlayhad been in Kim’s question. Long Presidents Cup Alternating shots, Kim and international partner Si Woo Kim went toe-to-toe with perhaps the American side’s best pairing. Schauffele and Cantlay led by 2 after 8. The match was square after 10. Schauffele and Cantlay led by 1 after 13. The match was square after 14. Schauffele and Cantlay led by 1 after 15. The match was square after 16. Things ended as they would you guessed it – on the 18th, in near darkness, Cantlay rolled in a 17-footer and the Americans won by 1.
Then, as the American side celebrated, Kims, along with his teammate Taylor Pendrithwere sent to a press conference tent, where, seven questions in, this question was asked:
“For all three of you, it was definitely a long, emotional, exhausting day. Did you feel like you had enough gas left at the end, or was it hard to pass?”
Only Tom Kim answered. His answer create titles.
“I think the beginning of the round was definitely a little bit tougher, but as it got closer to the end, it got a little rough there. I could hear some players swearing at us. That part wasn’t really – I don’t think there was any good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand that.
“So the American team definitely motivated us to go out there.”
Party? Curse? Not sporty?
Really? You hear tweets in team golf, but the slurs seemed extreme, if they were true. And if Kim were honest, should have shared it?
Minutes later, at a press conference in the US, Schauffele was pressed for an answer and looked bemused.
“I mean, I can speak for myself. I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect. We’re trying to calm the mobs down when they’re hitting. We’re trying to calm the crowd down – go back to the movie, calm down the crowd when we were hitting. That was right, grab and go.
“I have no idea if anyone was doing any of this. I don’t believe any of our boys would do such a thing. So I’m not sure what he was listening to.”
Kim apparently caught the reaction that followed.
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He thought things through. He would share his side. The moment came when Schauffele and Furyk, the U.S. captain, took the final shots of Kim and Burns’ singles match, halving it.
A GOLF.com reporter checked it out. Kim did most of the talking. There were handshakes. Eventually, after about two minutes, the international captain Mike Weir pulled his player.
What was said?
“Yeah, it was just about my comments yesterday,” Kim said. “I just told him, hey, I didn’t want it to go in such a negative way. If it did, I just said I’m sorry. I just felt like what I heard yesterday, some of the comments I heard were at the time, just off the green, they came so personally to me and I just felt it was right to share.
“I definitely didn’t really have it at the time, I just didn’t think it would be this negative. I really didn’t want to – because when I was playing with Patrick and Xander, obviously we’ve fought a few times and they’ve always been great competitors. They never did – I always felt there was such good sportsmanship between us. It was just off the ropes and I felt it was a small misunderstanding on my part that I should have explained better.
“So I went to him and said, I didn’t mean it that way. I apologize if it came out wrong. It was just that and that happened, but if it affected you in such a negative way, I truly apologize. I didn’t mean to do it that way.
“This event is about doing things you would never do and creating energy and doing all these things. If I – I do certain things on the greens when I putt and I expect them to do the same. It’s all part of the game. It was just for that.”
Did Kim have this in his mind, that he would approach the player and the captain at some point?
“Absolutely,” he said. “It came across so negatively, which I never thought I would. I just wanted to take the time to share my thoughts because I don’t want my team to feel uncomfortable. I don’t want their team to feel a certain way about us. It’s all in fun. It’s all part of the game.
“I felt it was only right for me to go up and share the road – you know, what was the meaning of that comment.”
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Was Kim’s gesture surprising? Maybe, especially after Saturday became tense. Did he reveal more than any shot here? You can also do this case. Clearly, Saturday’s events and Kim’s public reaction to them had weighed on him.
Schauffele, asked about the meeting at his press conference on Sunday, declined to share what Kim had told him. “It was private,” he said. But a few questions later, he said this, when asked by the four Korean players on the international team: Kims, Im Sungjae and Ben An.
“They bring fire to that team,” Schauffele said. “I know we’re in Canada and there were some Canadians on that team and they’re rooting for the crowd, but Si Woo, Tom, Ben, Sungjae – you know, Sungjae is probably the softest of them all, but we look up to her as an assassin in his own right, he hits it so straight. Then Tom and Si Woo together, I mean, those guys – this course might be, I don’t know, 7,000 yards, but those guys cover about 9,000 yards in a round of golf, at least the ones I played against them.
“They hit unbelievable shots. PC (Patrick Cantlay) and I saw it. They were very tough – PC and I had to bring out some of our best stuff to beat them last night. They teed off on the last hole.
“It’s great for golf. As a competitor, I respect him. It’s not how I do my business, but I respect it because that’s how they play. If I was running and they got me, I could make bogey on the next hole, but those guys are running around and making every hole scary for us. I have a lot of respect for everyone on that team, but the Koreans definitely bring the heat, no doubt.”
