Wells Fargo Championship

Quail Hollow Club



The Loop

Kim's behavior: Out of line? Depends on who you ask

August 24, 2009

Christina Kim is animated by nature, exponentially so by the Solheim Cup, which played to mixed reviews overseas.

The Telegraph's Mark Reason was among those who panned Kim's behavior. "Goodness knows what Lee Westwood might have made of it all," he wrote. "He would probably have taken Kim's wedge and shoved it up her beret. Westwood was contemptuous of Tom Lehman when he began conducting the crowd in the national anthem on Brookline's first tee. But this was way beyond that.

John Huggan, a Scot writing for golfdigest.com, said this: "... there is a line that must never be crossed with this sort of thing. And, at the risk of being portrayed as a bit of a fuddy-duddy, it must be pointed out that Kim, on occasion, veers into a place where opponents are -- however inadvertently -- treated with something less than proper respect."

Conversely, James Corrigan, writing in the Independent, found Kim amusing, particularly when she partnered with Michelle Wie. "Thereafter," he wrote, "there was any number of high-fives, of girly cuddles and of a complex slap routine which climaxed with the pair waving their fingers down their face telling each other to 'make it rain' (Warning: Do not try this next October at Celtic Manor). Here were two starlets in the midst of their sporting dream and as far as I could tell their intentions were way too innocent to be rip-throatingly dishonourable."

Laura Davies was asked about Kim and said this: "She's a lovely girl. She's excitable. That's the way it is. She's good fun. She gets the crowds going. Good luck to her."

Kim apparently was taken to task for her behavior by at least one on Twitter. Her Twitter response:

"when was I discourteous? I waited till Tania finished on every hole to celebrate, and hushed the crowd when she wasn't done yet!!!"

-- John Strege