Presidents Cup 2024: ‘Disrespectful’ move from Tom Kim and Sungjae Im was reportedly not their call

Tom Kim and Sungjae Im’s decision to leave the eighth green at Royal Montral and head to the ninth tee while Scottie Scheffler still had a birdie putt during their fourball match caused quite the stir on Day 1 of the Presidents Cup. A manufactured stir with so little to discuss after a 5-0 U.S. rout on Thursday? Sure. But a stir nonetheless.

In fact, NBC analyst Paul McGinley called the move out immediately before a single point had been won by either team. “That’s bordering on bad behavior there,” McGinley said. “It’s disrespectful, in my opinion.”

Later in the evening on Golf Channel’s “Live From,” Brandel Chamblee agreed with McGinley, who was absent from the show after calling golf all day. His replacement, Johnson Wagner, also called Kim and Im’s move a disrespectful one, adding that he “hated” when players would do that to him during his PGA Tour career. “The only excuse is if you have to go to the bathroom,” Wagner said.

Turns out, according to Golf Channel reporter Todd Lewis, the International team meant zero disrespect by leaving Scheffler to putt out back on No. 8 green. Nor was it a bit of gamesmanship. In fact, it wasn’t even their idea at all—it was assistant captain Camilo Villegas’ call.

Lewis, who had aconversation with the 42-year-old Colombian, said that after they made birdie at the eighth, Villegas took Kim and Im to the ninth tee not to ‘escalate’ what was a verbal exchange between Kim and Scheffler. Only a few moments before, it was Kim’s turn for a long birdie putt that he made, and started running around the green to celebrate only to meet the birdie of Scheffler who yelled, ”THIS? WHAT WAS THAT?!” in Kim’s direction.

That was when, as Lewis mentions in the video below, U.S. assistant captain Kevin Kisner had stepped in, taking offense to Villegas’ move, calling it bush league:

Indeed, it is as if all drama of a golf controversy has been distilled into Day 1, and so this one appears a bit overemphasized, which is usually the case. Of one thing, however, you can be sure: trying to motivate the No 1 ranked tennis player in the world with gamesmanship is not a very wise move specially if your team represent the underdogs.