Tom Kim was branded ‘disrespectful’ by commentator Paul McGinley after the South Korean collided with Scottie Scheffler on the opening day of the Presidents Cup.

The United States jumped to a 5-0 lead in Montreal after completing a fourballs whitewash to seize control of a biennial competition that they have won in each of the last nine editions.

Kim and playing partner Sungjae Im were defeated by Scheffler and Russell Henley 3&2 in a sometimes heated match.

Although Kim and Scheffler are close friends and regular playing partners on the PGA Tour, the pair clashed on the par-three seventh while exchanging fiery celebrations after each sinking a birdie putt.

One hole later, the International Team duo wandered to the ninth tee after making birdie, without waiting for Scheffler and Henley to finish. The Masters champion missed his putt and halved the hole.

Former pro McGinley was unimpressed with Kim’s behavior in the commentary box and felt it could come back to bite the 22-year-old.

“That borders on bad behavior,” McGinley continued Air sports. “I find that disrespectful.

“I know it’s competitive, but it certainly shows that there is an underlying benefit and that it’s not just fun and games.

“You’ve outsmarted yourself. The instigator is the one who suffers more than the recipient of what happened. It was very uncharacteristic behavior.”

The international team has everything to turn around as they look for just a second victory in the 15th edition of the Presidents Cup.

Kim was left out of Friday’s foursome by captain Mike Weir, with Min Woo Lee also making a surprising omission. Scheffler and Henley will work together again to try to reassert the dominance of the United States.

“From my perspective, it looked like he poked the bear,” Scheffler explained Thursday of the collision. “We were up by two in the match and he made a putt on seven, had a big reaction and I made a big putt too.

“So it was important for me to make sure we kept the momentum going into the match. And then he probably made a big putt on 8 and they walked from the green to the tee or something.