Tom Kim has accused the American players of poor sportsmanship after claiming he and Si Woo Kim were cursed at following their loss to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Kim has become an Ian Poulter type figure for the International team and while his behaviour may have irked the American side – walking off the green before Scottie Scheffler could putt on Thursday and using his putter to measure a putt that he wasn’t given – he feels the away side crossed the line on Saturday night.
“I think the start of the round was definitely a little harder, but as it got towards the end, it got a little feisty out there. I could hear some players cursing at us,” Kim said. “That part wasn’t really — I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand it. So the U.S. Team definitely motivated us to go out there.
“You see me out there throwing fist pumps and jumping on the green. It’s all part of it, I get it. I just don’t think there’s a need to look at someone and curse at them. I just don’t think there’s a need for it.”
Kim was visibly frustrated by the manner in which he and Si Woo were beaten on Saturday and he wouldn’t reveal what was said or by who.
“I understand it. I don’t get hurt about it,” Kim said. “My feelings don’t hurt at all. I hope there’s no negative comments. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. I just feel like there’s always little things, like what could I have done better? It’s just certain things like that. I put my partner in some tough positions, and that to me is the most frustrating part of the day.”
Xander Schauffele was unaware of any cursing towards the Kim’s from the American side and feels he and Cantlay treated their opponents with the utmost respect.
“I mean, I can speak for myself. I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect,” Schauffele said. “We’re trying to quiet the crowds down when they were hitting. We’re trying to quiet the crowd — go back on film, quiet the crowds down when we were hitting. It was fair take, give and go. I have no clue if anyone was doing any of that. I don’t believe any of our guys would do something like that. So I’m not sure what he was hearing.”
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