Advertisement

Kang responds to cheating allegation: 'I did the right thing'

By Andrew Both CARNOUSTIE, Scotland (Reuters) - Sung Kang defended himself on Thursday over a cheating allegation made by a fellow competitor, saying he had "followed the rules" and done nothing wrong. American Joel Dahmen accused the South Korean of taking an incorrect penalty drop after hitting into a lateral hazard when they were paired during the final round of the PGA Tour's National tournament in Maryland three weeks ago. After a lengthy consultation with a rules official over where the ball had last crossed the hazard line, Kang was allowed to drop near the green, while Dahmen thought the drop should have taken place much further away. "I followed the rule by the rules official so I think I did the right thing," Kang said after carding two-under-par 69 in the first round at the British Open at Carnoustie. "I really want to say a lot of things about it, the truth what happened but ...whatever I say, some people are going to trust it and some people are not going to trust it." The PGA Tour said at the time that a rules official had sided with Kang because there was "no clear evidence to prove otherwise" where the correct drop should have taken place. Dahmen thought otherwise. "Kang cheated," he tweeted at the time. "He took a bad drop from a hazard. I argued until I was blue. I lost." Kang said he had briefly spoken with Dahmen at last week's John Deere Classic in a quest to clear the air, but they had no time to chat before their respective rounds. Kang also said the accusation had been tough to take. "The way he said on Twitter was not right I think but there can be different opinions. First few days was hard. I really got mad." (Reporting by Andrew Both; editing by Clare Fallon)