USA aims for 10th straight win on Sunday [Getty Images]
Tensions flared again at the Presidents Cup in Montreal, with South Korean player Tom Kim lashing out at his American opponent, accusing him of poor sportsmanship.
The U.S. won both the four-ball and foursomes sessions 3-1 on Saturday, advancing to 11-7 ahead of the international team ahead of Sunday’s 12 singles matches.
The heated match was the alternating shot foursome match between Tom Kim and Kim Si Woo with Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Before facing Cantlay and Schauffele, the Korean pair had already defeated Keegan Bradley and Windham Clark in four-ball games, 4&3.
On the seventh, two down, Tom Kim was angry that the American didn’t allow him to make a three-foot par putt that would have halved the hole.
After holing the putt, the 22-year-old placed it next to the pin to show how close he was.
Motivated by their anger, Tom Kim hit a 37-foot hole on the 9th to tie the match on the 10th.
By the 16th hole, Kim Si-woo was trailing again and made a nice chip out of the rough to tie the match heading into the final two holes. He celebrated in style on the green, mimicking Stephen Curry’s “Goodnight” celebration.
“I did that because my favorite NBA player is Stephen Curry,” Kim said.
“It wasn’t a good result, but I was definitely excited,” added Cantlay after the American team reached the end, sinking a birdie putt on the 18th for the win.
But the drama didn’t end there. Tom Kim, who got into an argument with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the first day of the tournament, accused him of taunting him, although he did not reveal who the opponent was.
“It got a little loud towards the end,” he said.
“I could hear some players cursing at us. I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But that’s all part of the fun. I understand that.”
“The U.S. team definitely motivated us to compete.”
The accusations were denied by Kim’s opponents.
“I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect. We’re trying to quiet the crowd while they’re hitting,” Schauffele said.
“I have no idea if anyone was doing that. I don’t think any of our players would do something like that, so I don’t know what he was hearing.”
“I didn’t even know what a goodnight gesture was,” Cantlay said, adding that she was unaffected by the other person’s actions.
The American team dominated Thursday’s opener and took a 5-0 lead, but the international team erased that lead with Friday’s alternative shot foursome.
Tom Kim and Kim Si-woo’s only success was Saturday’s four-ball victory over American Ryder Cup captains Bradley and Clark.
Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele remained undefeated, defeating Canadian pair Corey Connors and Mackenzie Hughes. Scheffler, along with Collin Morikawa, defeated Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith 2&1, making two consecutive birdies. Cantlay and Sam Barnes saw off Hideki Matsuyama and Sung Jae Im.
National team captain Mike Weir maintained the same combination in the afternoon’s foursomes, but he was still able to record only one point.
Scheffler and Russell Henry extended the lead for the United States with a 3-2 victory over Matsuyama and Yim, but the remaining three matches all came down to the final hole.
In the end, Pendrith and Scott prevailed, defeating Brian Harman and Max Homa, but Morikawa and Burns edged Connors and Hughes by one hole.
The final match took place on the final teeing ground, and Kim needed to win the hole to narrow the overall difference to two points, but in near darkness, Cantlay and Schauffele made birdies to take the points and extend the advantage. Expanded to 4 points.
Matches will resume at 17:00 BST, with the USA needing four points from Sunday’s 12 singles matches to claim the trophy.
Presidents Cup Scoring and Format
Thursday’s four-ball (US lead 5-0)
Schauffele/Finau Beat Day/An 1UP
Morica/Segala defeats Scott/Lee 1UP
Scheffler/Henry defeats Im/Kim 3&2
Clark/Bradley wins 1UP over Pendrith/Bexuidenhout
Cantlay/Burns beat Matsuyama/Connors 2&1
Friday Foursome (US 5-5 International)
Matsuyama/I’m Beat Cantley/Schaufele 7&6
Scott/Penrith beat Seagala/Morikawa 5&4
Bezuidenhout/Daybeat Homa/Herman 1UP
Connors/Hughes beat Clark/Finow 6&5
Kim/Ahn defeats Scheffler/Henry 1UP
Saturday (US leads 11-7)
four ball
Scheffler/Morikawa beat Scott/Penrith 2&1
Finau/Xander Schauffele defeats Connors/Hughes 3&2
Kim/Kim beat Bradley/Clark 4&3
Cantlay/Burns beat Matsuyama/Imu 2&1
foursome
Pendrith/Scott defeats Homa/Herman 2 up.
Morikawa/Sam Burns 1 up on Connors/Hughes
Cantlay/Schauffele wins 1up over Kim/Kim
Scheffler/Henry wins 3&2 over Matsuyama/Imu
Sunday
12 singles matches from 17:00 BST (US players listed first)
Schauffele vs Day
Burns v Tom Kim
Schaeffler v Matsuyama
henry vs im
cantlay v pendrith
Bradley vs Kim Si Woo
Finau v Connors
clark vs lee
Segala v Ann
Morikawa vs Scott
Harman v Bezuidenhout
homer v fuse