Tom Kim of Korea admitted he ran out of gas after a pulsating Saturday at the Presidents Cup saw the U.S. Team edge 11-7 ahead of the International Team at Royal Montreal.
But he insists he and his teammates have not run out of fight.
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The 22-year-old Tom partnered countryman Si Woo Kim twice on a marathon third day, delivering his team’s only point in the morning Four-ball session with a 4 & 3 win over Keegan Bradley/Wyndham Clark as the defending champions won the other three matches through Scottie Scheffler/Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau/Xander Schauffle and Patrick Cantlay/Sam Burns.
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Later in the afternoon’s Foursomes session, and with the U.S. having already won two of the three alternate-shot matches, the Korean duo fought bravely against Schauffele and Cantlay before losing 1-up after Cantlay drained a 17-foot birdie putt in near darkness to conclude a feisty match. The Korean duo were down, but were not knocked out cold.
“I do believe in this team. We’ve got the crowd. It is a different situation. I believe in my teammates,” said Tom. “I’m very tired right now, but I am not going to lie, I am so motivated to go out tomorrow and post a number because I feel like, because we’ve lost so many times, there’s going to be one day where it’s just going to be our day. I believe it’s tomorrow.”
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The U.S. Team needs 4.5 points from the 12 Singles matches on Sunday to win the Presidents Cup for a 10th consecutive time but Tom is not prepared to throw in the towel. He will take on Burns in the second Single match while Si Woo will face Bradley.
Si Woo, who was the team’s leading scorer in Quail Hollow with three points two years ago, stole the show with some gutsy play and wild celebrations. He and Tom saw off Bradley and Clark in the morning in convincing fashion, taking off his cap moments before his winning putt from 17 feet found the bottom of the cup. After holing an unlikely chip-in birdie on 16 in the evening, he ran across he green and in an ode to his favourite NBA basketball player Stephen Curry, he pressed his hands together on the side of his head as if to signal he was putting the other team to sleep. His teammates and home crowds roared in approval.
“That’s what we needed,” Si Woo said. “I didn’t expect the ball was going to go in, but I was so excited.”
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Tom added: “It’s been the last many, many years, there’s just so many little things that aren’t going our way. There’s so many lip-outs. I feel like the opposite team is getting some good kicks. Even in Charlotte, there’s so many little things that didn’t go our way. I feel all these guys are going to go out there, we’re going to try our best. If we fall short, we’ll try again. That’s what we are. There’s going to be one time when we’re going to hold the Cup, and it’s going to be sometime soon.”
Taylor Pendrith, one of three Canadians in the International Team, also teamed up with Adam Scott twice on Saturday, losing 2 & 1 to Scheffler and Morikawa in the morning before earning the home team’s lone point in Foursomes with a 2-up triumph over Brian Harman/Max Homa.
He knows his team has an uphill battle. “It’s a very, very solid U.S. Team, and we’ve got a big task at hand,” said Pendrith. “But a lot of the matches have gone deep into the holes and have been decided on 18 a lot, so we’re right there.”
International Team captain Mike Weir paid tribute to the American juggernaught as the visiting team trailed in several of the afternoon matches before flipping the matches around for outright wins. “These team competitions, they’re emotional roller coasters, no doubt. Hat’s off to the U.S. guys. They played great down the stretch. They holed some key putts. They played the 18th hole really well when those matches have been close, and that’s why they have the lead right now on some of those pivotal holes,” said Weir.
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“But these are 12 awesome players we have on our team. We have tremendous belief in them. They have tremendous belief in themselves. It’s the best group of guys I’ve ever been around. We love them, and we know they’re going to come out fighting hard tomorrow.”
Making a record 11th appearance, Aussie veteran Scott, who plays Collin Morikawa in the third to last Singles match, has called on his teammates to stand up and be counted. He has yet to be on a winning team “We’re going to have to be tenacious out there tomorrow and heroic, actually,” said Scott, who has won two points from four matches this week.
“This is a big format tomorrow, 12 matches, 12 points up for grabs, an incredibly strong U.S. Team. Our guys are going to have to throw caution to the wind and play their asses off.”
