Wyndham Clark defends Team USA amidst Tom Kim swearing row

Wyndham Clark was one of the American players involved in the alleged swearing mentioned by Tom Kim during the recent Presidents Cup. Two weeks later, Clark spoke about the allegations.

The 2023 US Open champion said in an interview with Golf Monthly that the cusses allegedly heard by Kim were uttered by the American players amongst themselves.

Wyndham Clark, 2024 Presidents Cup (Image via Getty).

According to Clark, the trash-talking started when the match began to favor the members of Team USA. This is part of what he said:

"We witnessed them [the International Team] making tons of putts on us and playing unbelievable and then obviously witnessed all of the celebrations that they were doing..."

He added:

“So we started seeing [from the Team USA side] some of the best golf I’ve ever seen in a match, at any cup. I mean, they were just birdie after birdie. Every other hole. It was quite amazing."

"As far as the cussing that was going on or any of the trash-talking, I feel like on our team, we were doing it only towards our guys. So guys were saying, y’know, LFG for our team and I think that’s where the cussing was."

At the end of the afternoon session on the third day of the 2024 Presidents Cup, Tom Kim told a press conference that the American players had been "cussing" at him and his team-mate Si Woo Kim.

The pair played against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele on Saturday afternoon, with Wyndham Clark watching from the sidelines as he was not scheduled to play in the session. According to Tom Kim, the Americans' behavior towards them was not a good demonstration of "sportsmanship". He said (via NBC Sports):

"I could hear some players cursing at us. That part wasn’t really – I don’t think there was good sportsmanship there. But it’s all part of the fun. I understand it."

Another of the Americans involved, Xander Schauffele, also rejected Kim's comments. He said he and Cantlay treated the international players with the "utmost respect" (via NBC Sports):

"I mean, I can speak for myself. I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect."

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The feud between Wyndham Clark and Tom Kim

The alleged swearing was not the only issue involving Tom Kim and Wyndham Clark as both were also more directly involved in the so-called 'night night celebration' gesture controversy.

It all started in the Saturday morning session when Clark and Keegan Bradley lost to Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim in fourball. After winning 4&3 in 15 holes, Si Woo Kim celebrated by making the 'night night celebration' gesture famously used by NBA star Stephen Curry.

In the afternoon foursomes session that same day, Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim teamed up again to take on Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. The match was very close and came down to a spectacular 20-foot putt by Cantlay on the 18th hole to win the match.

Clark, watching from the edge of the green, made the same "night night celebration" gesture that Si Woo Kim had made earlier in the morning.

The American team eventually won the event 18.5 to 11.5 over the International team.