One of the moments the 2024 Presidents Cup is going to be remembered for undoubtedly came on a flat Thursday at Royal Montreal, as Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler both holed long birdie putts on the seventh hole.
It was strange how subdued Royal Montreal proved to be on the opening day of the Presidents Cup, with Tom Kim criticising the crowds as USA raced into a 5-0 lead after the first session. There was so much excitement heading into the event, particularly with Mike Weir leading a team which included three Canadian players.
Kim seemingly tried to get the fans going after holing a long birdie putt on the seventh, evoking memories of some of his heroics at Quail Hollow two years ago. But perhaps the South Korean should have waited until he knew that he had won the hole before celebrating.
Scottie Scheffler tied the hole with a lengthy putt of his own. The world number one seemed to turn to Kim before the ball had even gone in with a shout of his own. The pair are good friends, so it appeared to be a moment which stayed on the right side of the line, even if Scheffler’s own dad was stunned by the incident.
What Camilo Villegas told Kevin Kisner after controversial Presidents Cup moment
What happened on the following hole however, perhaps did not. Kim would hole another long putt for birdie. But rather than stay to watch the US putt for a half, International vice-captain Camilo Villegas ushered Kim and Sungjae Im to the ninth tee.
Kisner was seen having words with Villegas shortly after. And speaking on Fore Play Podcast Plus, the US assistant captain explained what the Colombian told him about his reasoning for what appeared to be questionable sportsmanship.
“The eighth hole, I thought it was bush league when Camilo told his guys to leave the green,” he said.
“And afterwards, once cooler heads prevailed two days later, Camilo and I talked and he was like, ‘dude, I’m just going to be honest with you, when I saw Scottie do that [on seven], I feared a little bit for my guys, that was the scariest looking Scottie Scheffler I’ve ever seen, so I just didn’t want him to make another putt and something go array’.
“And I’m like, ‘I’ll take your word for it, I still thought it was b——t’. And I was like, ‘you think Scottie’s going to punch one of your guys?’ I’m pretty sure we’re not going to do that.”
The Presidents Cup is better for those moments of drama
The Presidents Cup needs moment like the one involving Kim and Scheffler. The event has come in for a lot of criticism after another relatively comfortable US win. So it would certainly not help if the two teams got on famously during the entirety of the event itself.
These events need villains, whether that be Kim who looked to antagonise the US’s best player, or Wyndham Clark, who was criticised for mocking Kim and Si-woo Kim on Saturday. And Villegas would have known that some would have been less than impressed by what he got his players to do.
Kisner is clearly not convinced that the thinking was not to get under the Americans’ skin. And it is a fair point; Scheffler is probably the last player you would expect to completely lose his head on the golf course. Scheffler has an unbelievable mental game.
In hindsight, it probably was an error to try and wind up the pairing of Scheffler and Russell Henley, who went on to secure the US’s biggest win of the day. But these events always need that little bit of spice.
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