Those who may have expected Tom Kim to be a little more reserved on his second Presidents Cup appearance were in for a surprise when the South Korean made his way onto the first tee at Royal Montreal.
Tom Kim was, of course, the player who lit up the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow back in 2022, leading the fightback from the Internationals which gave them a glimmer of hope after a nightmare start.
Kim’s passion seemed to fire up his team two years ago. But not being a rookie this time around may have left some wondering whether the 22-year-old would look to remain calm, at least initially.
However, Kim channelled his inner-Nelly Korda by flying out onto the first tee, trying to get the Canadian crowd going ahead of his match alongside Sungjae Im against Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.
Tom Kim criticised for what he did before his opening shot at the Presidents Cup
Kim also encouraged the crowd to keep the noise going before he hit his own tee shot. Unfortunately, his drive was sent way out to the right and left him fighting for par.
And speaking on Sky Sports (broadcast on 26/9; 17:16), Wayne Riley suggested that he was not impressed by Kim’s antics.
“I wouldn’t be doing that. I didn’t like what he was doing there. I get it but first hole, you haven’t won the Presidents Cup for a long time and you are carrying on like that. I don’t think that was very smart at all,” he said.
Incredibly harsh
It seems to be such a bizarre criticism of Kim. If anything, he almost suffered because the noise stopped just before he was about to start his swing. That must have been distracting when he was probably focused on a number of things anyway.
Throughout the week, much was being made of the home advantage the Internationals would have, and the importance of getting the crowds behind them from the very start.
The Internationals have a poor record in the competition, but they have been much closer when the US have been the away team. So it was good to see Kim trying to rile the crowd up before his match started.
It would be interesting to know whether Riley would have had the same issue had Kim found the middle of the fairway with his opening tee shot.
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