The Presidents Cup

Gamesmanship and Sportsmanship

Originally, I had planned another topic for the newsletter. It will have to wait a week. Something happened over the last few days in the golf world which needs to be discussed. The Presidents Cup.

Normally, I watch The Presidents Cup as a nice event created for the American players to help develop camaraderie and team experience for The Ryder Cup. It honestly hasn’t been very competitive over the years. The US is 12-1-1 against the International teams. Many of those wins were lopsided victories. Beyond the domination by the Americans, The Presidents Cup has never drawn the same crowd energy as The Ryder Cup.

It seemed this version would be much of the same on Thursday. The crowd lacked energy, and the Americans exploded to a 5-0 lead.

Something changed Friday. The crowd arrived fired up. The Internationals jumped out of the gate. While the Americans won all 5 matches Thursday, all 5 matches were close. The Internationals not only returned the favor by winning all 5 matches, but they also dominated 3 of the 5 matches. Fist pumps, roaring galleries, a heel and match play gamesmanship suddenly appeared making the day feel much more like a Ryder Cup than a Presidents Cup.

Fist pumps and roaring galleries occur at any tournament. It was nice to see the intensity ratchet up. But it was the arrival of a heel and match play gamesmanship and possibly unsportsmanlike behavior which took this Presidents Cup to another level.

Let’s start with the gamesmanship. There is sometimes a fine line between gamesmanship and poor sportsmanship. In either case, acts of these kinds are intended to get under the skin of an opponent. Neither breaks rules but can cause an opponent to get off their game. Gamesmanship actually arrived on Thursday when Tom Kim and Sungjae Im walked off the 8th green and up to the 9th tee before Scottie Scheffler putted out on the 8th. This followed Scheffler’s bombastic reaction to his birdie following Kim’s birdie on the 7th hole. The 8th green walk off created a testy situation as it is considered an unwritten rule competitors will remain at the green until their opponents hole out. This makes the move borderline unsportsmanlike.

By the end of the day, the teams found themselves tied 5-5. The Presidents Cup was on.

The gamesmanship continued on Saturday. Tom Kim wanted a three-foot putt conceded on the 7th green. The Americans, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, refused to concede the putt. In protest, after holing the putt, Kim used his putter to measure the length just as many weekend golfers do to determine if a putt is a gimme by being, “inside the leather.” Cantlay and Schauffele appeared not to notice Kim’s antics, but I guarantee if they didn’t see the move, they were informed about what happened.

The match continued to go back and forth with cheers and fist pumps. On the 17th hole, with the Americans 1-up in the match, Si Woo Kim holed out a pitch shot to win the hole after the Americans had made par. Si Woo proceeded to run around the green making the “night, night” gesture made popular by NBA superstar, Steph Curry. With the match tied, Cantlay drained a 15-foot birdie on the 18th. When Si Woo missed his birdie putt to tie the hole, American Wyndham Clark responded with the same, “Night, night,” gesture.

Enter the heel. Pro wrestling is famous for creating a heel. The heel is the bad guy fans love to hate. The Ryder Cup always seems to have a heel. Seve Ballesteros and Ian Poulter come to mind as European heels in The Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup never felt like a heel emerged before. This one, however, finally got one on the International side; Tom Kim.

Kim is normally an affable guy. His contemporaries seem to genuinely like him. He and Scottie Scheffler are known to be good friends. Other players always speak highly of him. Fans, as a result, have viewed him kindly.

All that changed on Friday with the walk off the 8th green followed by the putter measure stunt on Saturday, Tom Kim became the villain. He then accused American players of using curse words towards him as the Saturday match wore on. Xander Schauffele appeared confused when asked about it denying he or Cantlay ever said anything of the sort towards Kim. He added he doubted any of the American players would conduct themselves in such a manner. Kim later walked back his comments a little.

But what cemented his role as the heel were the celebrations with every hole won or tying putt made. The demonstrative fist pumps and yells, while I believe genuine in the moment, came across as over-the-top and annoying. American fans finally had someone to hate on the International team.

While The Presidents Cup is normally an afterthought for golf fans compared to the Ryder Cup, this years version was must watch TV. The stunning comeback Friday by the International team combined with gamesmanship and the arrival of a heel, elevated the event to another level. If you missed it, you missed an event filled with great golf and great drama.

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As always, be thankful when you play. Be grateful every time you have the opportunity and privilege to play this amazing game. Now, go golf!