Tom Kim ignited historic Presidents Cup comeback with 1 small gesture

MONTREAL — The orchestra on the first tee field on the Presidents Cup was able to make candy music, however it simply wanted a conductor.

Fortunately, the maestro arrived early, sporting a trim black sweatshirt and a bucket hat over his eyes.

“I-N-T!” Tom Kim screamed, pointing towards the followers and scurrying round like a capsule bug.

“I-N-T!!!” they screamed again, extra vigorously with each spherical of chants.

It will be disingenuous to say that Kim single-handedly modified the trajectory of the Presidents Cup on Friday afternoon. In spite of everything, of the 12 gamers on the Worldwide workforce, Kim was one of many 4 who didn’t hit golf a shot in Friday’s beautiful 5-0 reverse sweep to even the rating at 5. However to say Kim didn’t compete on Friday would even be untruthful.

The character of golf’s workforce play occasions is that some gamers are pressured to sit down out. As such, it isn’t uncommon for individuals who aren’t enjoying to absorb the motion from up shut. But it surely is uncommon to absorb the motion in the way in which that Kim did on Friday, the identical day the Internationals breathed new life into the Presidents Cup.

Kim, from the bench, was on the middle of a raucous house surroundings for the INTs on Friday. And it began on the primary tee.

After the Internationals fell in an early 5-0 gap on Thursday, workforce captain Mike Weir sat Kim for Friday’s alternate-shot matches, a call that just about instantly appeared like a mistake. Kim had been the lifeblood of an in any other case lifeless Worldwide facet within the 5-0 Thursday drumming, touchdown a couple of spotlight moments in opposition to World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler earlier than Scheffler became the golf Terminator and received the match. He was one of many few gamers who appeared to elicit pleasure of any form from the house crowd, and the Internationals wanted each cheer they might get.

Then the solar arrived on Friday morning, and the followers got here with it. They rolled into the primary tee field at Royal Montreal, which was rocking at a noticeably larger decibel than it had been on Thursday (a minimum of partly due to a revamped DJ playlist). And as quickly as they arrived, they have been greeted by the inexperienced face (and voice) of the Worldwide Aspect, Tom Kim.

“Once I knew I used to be going to sit down out, I advised myself, What can I do for my teammates to exit tomorrow and really feel the power? As a result of our crowd wasn’t going,” Kim stated. “I had one aim as we speak, and that was to get there earlier than everybody obtained to the primary tee and get the gang going for my guys.”

Kim introduced the power, waving and screaming within the route of the worldwide devoted, who responded with their very own waves and screams. Earlier than lengthy, the final of the day’s 5 foursomes had left the teeing space, and the distinction was palpable.

“I hit the primary tee shot yesterday in our group, and I hit the primary tee shot as we speak,” stated Tony Finau, who was dispatched 6 and 5 by the Canadian pairing of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes. “It was night-and-day distinction, I believe simply the noise and the power.”

Kim carried the power out onto the course because the yellow flags stored piling up on the scoreboard, egging on the gang with every passing birdie putt. He was there on the twelfth, when Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im closed out an emphatic 7-and-6 dismantling of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and there on the thirteenth, too, as Conners and Hughes poured in a single ultimate birdie to ship the gang ballistic.

“LET’S GO!” Kim screamed a number of instances, to nobody particularly.

“I simply want they might carry it on the weekend as properly as a result of we’re going to wish it,” Kim stated, a contact ruefully, in Friday’s post-round presser. That he didn’t compete within the session and was nonetheless invited to take part within the press convention, which is usually solely reserved for leaders and prime performers, spoke volumes.

However then once more, so did his screams, which have been audible even via the chaos on Saturday afternoon, leaving him out of breath greater than as soon as.

“I believe I’m beginning to lose my voice,” he stated Friday night with a smile.

If KIm’s voice is absolutely gone come Saturday morning, we all know the second that delivered the ultimate blow. It got here simply earlier than sundown on Friday, as Si Woo Kim stared down a par putt within the fifth and ultimate match of the day to choose off Scheffler and Henley. As his putt hit the underside of the outlet, Si Woo reached out his hand and beckoned towards the Worldwide facet, which rushed in his route.

It was no shock to see Kim was the primary participant to achieve him. And even much less of a shock to see what occurred after, as pandemonium enveloped the hundreds assembled close to the 18th, who all of a sudden believed — as Kim had that morning — that the Internationals actually have been in it.

“I-N-T!” Kim screamed, waving his arms like a virtuoso.

“I-N-T!!!” the gang screamed again.

Proper on cue.

James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a information and options editor at GOLF, writing tales for the web site and journal. He manages the Scorching Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and makes use of his on-camera expertise throughout the model’s platforms. Previous to becoming a member of GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse College, throughout which era he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Lengthy Island, the place he’s from. He may be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.