Tom Kim wants Canadian fans to get louder at the Presidents Cup.
The energetic youngster felt the crowd at Royal Montreal wasn’t doing enough to create a home advantage for captain Mike Weir’s underdog Internationals.
“I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil,” Kim said. “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.”
In the Montreal crowd’s defence, the International team didn’t provide much to cheer about in a 5-0 opening session drubbing at the hands of Jim Furyk’s powerhouse Team USA.
Kim said he was agreeing with a comment from Canadian teammate Taylor Pendrith, but the big-hitting Canadian didn’t call out the home crowd. If he felt the same way, he was more diplomatic.
“To feel the love of the home crowd being in Canada was really neat,” Pendrith said. “We need to get louder, I think, the next few days here and really feel the home support.”
Kim played a central role in Thursday’s most intense scene, when the 22-year-old made back-to-back birdies and appeared to perhaps annoy world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler with his celebratory antics.
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Kim and Sungjae Im lost 3-and-2 to Scheffler and Russell Henley.
With a mountain to climb over the next three days or any chance of a comeback, the South Korean Kim is hopeful things get a little more boisterous.
“I’m definitely expecting more crowds to be louder and for them to be on our side,” he said.
Step one is giving them something to cheer about.