From being best buds on the PGA Tour to becoming rivals at the 15th Presidents Cup, Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim’s relationship took a turn in Montreal. The world no. 1 and his friend faced off against each other in the fourball session on Thursday with Russell Henley and Sungjae Im, respectively. The international pair lost 3–2, but before that, there was quite a fiasco during the front-nine play.

At first, Scheffler took a jab at Kim after draining a birdie on the 7th hole. And then, to not become prey to the same banter, Kim and his partner walked off the 8th green to the 9th tee box. This was quoted as disrespectful by a few in the golf world, but the 2-time major champion cleared the and said all was good. The fans were probably waiting for Kim and Scheffler to face off against each other again on Friday, but International Team captain Mike Weir snubbed the South Korean pro.

Eric Patterson from The Score posted on X how the decision by Weir to bench Kim may backfire. He relayed that even though the International Team is behind five points, Kim is one of the best players they have on the team, but he is still not playing. Patterson sarcastically said, “Mike Weir would rather have Tom Kim drive a cart than play foursomes. It won’t end up mattering but still has to be one of the worst decisions from a captain.”

There are still a few hours before the Friday Foursomes start, but even before the results are in from the second day, the International Team captain became a target because of his decision as the golf world criticized him immensely.

The golf world calls out Mike Weir for benching Tom Kim.

The 5-0 point lead of the USA Team shows that they are playing with such a strategy that the International Team can’t seem to unlock it easily. If you take a look at the data from the first day of the Presidents Cup released by Data Golf, it showed that the USA was overall 26 strokes better than the International Team, and only three players from the team, Taylor Pendrith, Tom Kim, and Jason Day, were inside the top 10 of total strokes gained. Yet, being the second best in the team, he didn’t award Tom Kim to play on Friday.

Thus, this golf enthusiast disparaged Mike Weir’s decision and said, “The 1st or 2nd most accurate driver on the international team. probably the 2nd best overall player since Sungjae doesn’t seem to have it this week. unbelievably dumb captain alert!” Did the pairings of the International Team not have the camaraderie that Weir expected? It seemed like, and that was probably the reason that even after having led in the mid-round, they didn’t win a single point, as in the case of Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott, the two had 1 up until the 11th hole but lost it after the tie, which also showed the golf world Collin Morikawa’s savage side. Hence, pairing up his team didn’t work for Weir, as this fan commented, “He is not good at this captain thing.”

Taking this opportunity to rub the losing streak in the International Team’s face, they have not won a single President’s Cup since 1998, and after earning zero points on the opening day, it looked like the fate was going to be the same. This fan sarcastically said, “They have a plan, Eric. Just like yesterday.” Although the International Team lost on the first day, senior editor from Sports Illustrated, Ian MacMillan, shared on X that he still put bets on them for the Friday session, to which a fan replied and said, “Oh man. Best of luck! Why no Tom Kim today? I thought him calling out the fans yesterday was bad considering the results but thought he played really well.” Will the luck be in their favor this time? It remains to be seen.

If going by their Official World Golf Ranking and the 2024 season, Tom Kim is one of the best in both. He is the fourth highest-ranked golfer on the International team, ranked 24th, and he has had eight top-ten finishes, including a solo runner-up at the Travelers Championship behind Scheffler. Thus, this fan furiously said, “Unreal dumb move by the World Team to sit Tom Kim. Arguably their best player and by far the fan favorite… if they even show up today.”

As Mike Weir gambles with his team’s pair-up and benches Tom Kim, it would be fascinating to see what the international team’s score line is on the second and if it will backfire on them.