Why Does Team Golf Bring Out The Worst in People

What is it with team events that always seem to bring out the worst in people?

We witnessed some unsavoury scenes on the first day of the Presidents Cup as the USA raced into a 5-0 lead. Tom Kim is a feisty character, somebody you would definitely want to be on your side, but he took his celebrations too far in his fourball match against Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.

Playing with Sungjae Im, tempers flared after Kim holed a 27-foot birdie putt at the seventh with a fist pump and shouted: "Let’s go." Scheffler responded by also holing a birdie putt and turned to Kim and asked him: "What was that all about?"

At the next hole Kim holed another birdie putt and walked off the green with Im before Scheffler’s attempt to halve the hole, which he missed. It prompted US vice captain Kevin Kisner to say: "They took gamesmanship too far and over the line on sportsmanship and lost some integrity."

Bringing the energy ????

Tom Kim makes. Scottie Scheffler answers. pic.twitter.com/31S9zkM7z4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 26, 2024

Paul McGinley accused Kim of being disrespectful but a defiant Kim said afterwards: "There was no reason to stay there and look at him putt. It doesn’t help us at all. It wasn’t trying to be cheap or do anything like that. We were focused on our own game. Scottie is a good friend of mine but this week I don’t like him. I want to beat him so bad."

The American pair went on to win the match 3&2.

This is, of course, nothing new.

You only have to go back to last year’s Ryder Cup match when Patrick Cantlay holed a birdie putt on the 18th in the Saturday afternoon fourballs. He and caddie Joe LaCava celebrated wildly. Too wildly for the liking of Rory McIlroy, who still had a putt of his own for a birdie. He ended up exchanging angry words with LaCava and the argument spilled over into the car park when Shane Lowry had to separate McIlroy and Jim ‘Bones” Mackay.

There is a fine line to be drawn between gamesmanship and boorish behaviour, and the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup seems to bring out the very worst in those who compete.

Seve Ballesteros was the master of gamesmanship.

During the 1989 contest he went head to head with Paul Azinger in a tense singles match at The Belfry. The Spaniard asked to have a damaged ball replaced but Azinger successfully objected. Ballesteros hit back by later asking whether Azinger had properly dropped his ball after hitting it into a water hazard on the 18th hole. Azinger held on to win the match 1-up, but Europe retained the trophy following a 14-14 tie. It wasn’t the first Ryder Cup row Seve was at the centre of.

And then there was Brookline in 1999. 

The bad feeling began when Payne Stewart said: "On paper, they [Europe] should be caddying for us." Colin Montgomerie said his father had to leave the course due to abuse from the home fans, while European captain Mark James alleged that a spectator spat at his wife. 

The USA trailed 10-6 heading into the singles, but there was huge controversy in the deciding match between Justin Leonard and Jose Maria Olazabal. Leonard holed a 40-foot putt on the 17th hole, sparking wild celebrations as American players, family members and cameramen ran onto the green. Olazabal still had a putt of his own to keep the Ryder Cup alive but missed, with Europe left fuming over the USA’s apparent lack of etiquette.

There have even been examples of players falling out with and publicly criticising teammates and captains.

After the Americans were thrashed by Europe at Gleneagles in 2014, Phil Mickelson thought it was a good idea to use the press conference to launch a thinly-veiled attacked on his captain, Tom Watson. He claimed that the Americans had "strayed from a winning formula" in comments that were clearly aimed at Watson, who refused to respond at the time, but would later accuse Mickelson of "sour grapes." It should be pointed out that Mickelson had been left out of both sessions on the Saturday.

And following another thrashing in France four years later, Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth were involved in an unseemly spat after Reed claimed that Spieth had said he did not want to play with him. Reed had been left on the sidelines for both fourball sessions and said: "I don’t think it’s smart to sit me twice."

Then there is the Solheim Cup.

When Annika Sorenstam holed a chip shot from just off the 13th green for birdie in 2000, she thought she had pulled her and Janice Moodie level in their fourball clash with Kelly Roberts and Pat Hurst. Team USA had other ideas.

Despite being on the green, Robbins pointed out that she faced a longer putt than Sorenstam's chip and, after consulting captain Pat Bradley, ordered the shot to be retaken.

The rules state that, in matchplay, an opponent can force a player to take their shot again for playing out of turn, but Team Europe were still angered by what they branded an "unsporting" decision.

Bradley defended the decision, saying they "have only the greatest respect for the rules of the game" and that they "followed the rules as written."

In 2007, Dottie Pepper, who was working as a TV commentator was heard live on air referring to Laura Diaz and Sherri Steinhauer as "choking freaking dogs" after they failed to close their match. Pepper is an American, as are Diaz and Steinhauer. Pepper was also involved in a row at the 1998 contest when she screamed "Yes" after Laura Davies missed a putt. When her behaviour was questioned she replied with: "I don't really care."

Perhaps the worst incident of all came in 2015 and involved Suzann Pettersen. 

After missing a putt to win the 17th hole, Alison Lee picked up her ball, believing the remaining short putt had been conceded only for Pettersen to claim she and partner Charley Hull, who was already walking to the next tee, had not given the go-ahead.

Europe would go on to win the match and take a commanding 10-6 lead into the singles action only for the United States to mount an impressive fightback to clinch their first Solheim Cup since 2009.

We all understand that passions run high when players are wearing national colours but they need to learn not to cross the line. And Kim most definitely did cross that line.