Taylor Pendrith said it first: His fellow Canadians “need to get louder.”
Then Tom Kim took the mic.
“I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil,” said Kim, who, like his International teammates, was still licking his wounds after a 5-0 U.S. sweep of the opening four-ball session at this Presidents Cup.
“I don’t think the fans were really – I wish they would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada. I know how much they love golf. I’m definitely expecting more crowds to be louder and for them to be on our side.”
Kim provided two of the few home roars on Thursday around Royal Montreal, trading birdie bombs with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the seventh hole before adding another of his own to win the next hole. But he and partner Sungjae Im eventually fell, 3 and 2, in what was the most lopsided match of the day.
After Tom Kim birdied the seventh and got pumped up, Scottie Scheffler did the same.
“Those boys played great today,” Kim added, “but definitely for our team, it kind of felt like I played great, so being short kind of sucks. But we’ll figure out a way.”
Kim, however, will join the cheerleaders on Friday; he’s sitting the first foursomes session.
“That was part of the plan,” International captain Mike Weir said of Kim’s benching. “It was not a change after or anything. We have a plan for four-ball, and we have a plan for foursomes. Tom wasn’t in the plans for [Friday], but doesn’t mean he might not be down the road. We’re sticking with the plan.”