Sungjae Im and Tom Kim Draw Criticism for Walking Off Green Early at Presidents Cup

The International team duo walked off the green early as Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley were finishing putting on the 8th hole on Thursday.

Sungjae Im and Tom Kim walked off the 8th green early during Thursday's Four-Ball match with Team USA at the Presidents Cup. / Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Team events in golf bring out the fiery competitiveness that individual stroke play sometimes lacks, and that was the case once again in Day 1 of the Presidents Cup on Thursday.

During a four-ball match between Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley of Team USA and Tom Kim and Sungjae Im of the International Team, things got a bit testy on the 8th green. After Kim and Im finished putting, they walked straight for the 9th tee box before Scheffler and Henley had completed play on the hole.

In one of golf's many unwritten rules, it's always assumed that the competitor who has finished playing the hole will wait for the opposition to hole out.

Not on Thursday.

As was pointed out by the Golf Channel broadcast team, Im and Kim were a good 60 yards away on the tee box as Scheffler lined up his putt.

Kim and Im leaving for the next tee is bush league! Glad McGinley called it out pic.twitter.com/aNq8hY7fUn

— Shane Ryan (@ShaneRyanHere) September 26, 2024

This came shortly after Scheffler made a birdie on top of Kim on the 7th hole and bombastically celebrated in response to halve the hole.

Kim and Scheffler's friendship off the course has been well-documented, but the fiery competitiveness in both players was ever present in the four-ball match on Thursday.

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