Tom Kim seeks out Americans to clear air after Presidents Cup comments

Win or lose, Tom Kim wanted to make sure he cleared the air.

Kim called out some members of the U.S. Presidents Cup team during his press conference on Saturday night at Royal Montreal, criticizing his opponents for what he described as a lack of sportsmanship.

“I could hear some players cursing at us,” Kim told the room of reporters, though he didn’t divulge any names.

A day later, following his hard-earned tie with Sam Burns in singles and another lopsided defeat for the Internationals, Kim sought out U.S. captain Jim Furyk and one of his Saturday-afternoon opponents, Xander Schauffele, to explain himself and apologize for any controversy he may have created.

“I didn’t mean it to go in such a negative way,” Kim said of his presser comments. “If it did, I just said I’m sorry. It was just I felt like what I heard yesterday, some comments that I’ve heard was at that time, just coming off the green, it came to me so personally and just I felt like it was right to share. Definitely, I didn’t really at that time, just didn’t think it would be so negative. … When I played with Patrick and Xander, obviously we’ve battled a few times and they’ve always been such great competitors. I’ve always felt like there’s such a good sportsmanship between us. It was just outside the ropes, and I felt like that was a little misunderstanding on my part, which I should have explained better.

“So, I went to him, and I said, I didn’t mean it that way. I apologize if it came out wrongly. It was just this and this happened, but if it affected you guys so negatively, I really do apologize. I didn’t mean to do it in that way.”

Schauffele and Cantlay both won their matches on Sunday, each finishing off 4-1 performances.

“He just had a few words with Cap and I,” Schauffele said of he and Kim’s post-match exchange. “It was honestly in private. If you’d like to ask him about what was said, that’s on him to say because he’s the one that came up to us, but I don’t feel like it’s on me or anyone up here to disclose what he said.”

Kim ended the week 1-2-1, and he was noticeably less demonstrative in his match against Burns, though he did deliver a few big fist pumps after sinking a 15-footer for birdie at No. 15 to erase Burns’ lead.