CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — Sung Kang doesn’t plan to handle rulings any differently because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong when fellow PGA Tour player Joel Dahmen accused him of taking a bad drop three weeks ago.
Kang and Dahmen were playing in the final round at the Quicken Loans National when Kang’s second shot to the par-5 10th went into a hazard. Kang took a drop near the green. Dahmen contended the ball crossed the hazard much farther back, and without video evidence the rules official sided with the player.
It came to light when Dahmen, asked on Twitter why the group behind them played through, said, “Kang cheated. He took a bad drop from a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost.”
Kang earned a spot with room to spare in the British Open that week. He opened with a 69 on Thursday and was asked about the incident after his round.
“Everything is official,” he said. “I follow the rules. I think I did the right thing.”
Kang said he initially was upset, but now feels the more he talks about it, the worse it gets and it will only hurt his game.
He said he tried to talk with Dahmen at the John Deere Classic last week, but it was right before their separate tee times and he didn’t want either of them to be distracted.
“But the way he just said it on Twitter was not right, I think,” Kang said. “But there can be different opinions.”
Asked if he would approach rulings differently, Kang said, “No. I didn’t … I mean, why? I did the right thing. There’s no point in changing it.”
A GROUP OF SEVEN Americans and two fiancees are sharing a house again, a “tradition” that began at Royal Troon a few years ago. And apparently they now have World Cup fever. Kevin Kisner is among the group and said they spend part of their evenings playing soccer.
Jason Dufner is the goalie.
“I just try to smash Duf in the face,” Kisner said.
The others are Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson. Spieth is said to have ability.
“Until he sends it over the goal four houses over, and we’ve got to go knock on neighbors’ doors for the soccer ball,” Kisner said.
Johnson said he was a forward in high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and had a good left foot.
“There was no one on the team that had a left foot,” he said. “I was a set piece guy, corner kicks, because I wasn’t very tall and couldn’t jump. So I just throw it in there and let the guys do the work.”
RUSSELL KNOX said what most players probably feel: The first time playing with Tiger Woods is not an ordinary round.
Knox, who opened with a 73 after three-putting the 18th hole, described Woods as a his hero from watching him while growing up. Knox said he felt good on the course except having too much tension in his swing.
“First round with Tiger, obviously I expected to feel a little bit different,” he said.
How was it different?
“I don’t know, really,” he said. “It’s Tiger Woods. How would you feel playing with him?”
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