Tom Kim is a gold medalist. The South Korean won the men’s individual golf title at the Asian Games on Saturday in Nagoya, Japan, closing with a 6-under 64 at Kasugai Country Club.
Kim finished at 18-under 262 for a three-shot win. Japan’s Kazuki Higa, Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana and China’s Wenyi Ding finished three back, and a playoff sent silver to Higa and bronze to Kaewkanjana.
The gold carries more than a medal. Most able-bodied South Korean men must serve about 18 months in the military, but an Olympic medal of any color or an Asian Games gold earns an exemption.
“Despite that, I’m more proud that I’m able to bring a medal for my country,” Kim said.
Kim started Saturday at 12 under with a one-shot lead after rounds of 67, 66 and 65. He went out in 4 under with birdies on the second, fourth, sixth and eighth holes.
The par-5 13th did the rest. Kim eagled the 520-yard hole for the second straight day, pushing his lead to four with five holes to play. He added one more birdie on the back nine, and his only bogey came at the 17th.
Kim said he didn’t track the leaderboard for most of the day. “There were not that many leaderboards but I think it was better for me not to know where I stood,” Kim said. “If I got too ahead of myself, it would only have made me more nervous. Without knowing my score, I just wanted to keep making birdies.”
He tapped in for par on 18 and let out a roar.
That morning, Kim woke up to a text from Tiger Woods, his TGL teammate. “Just be you. Nothing more, nothing less,” the message read. Kim said he hasn’t replied yet but knows what he’ll send: “I think I will send him a photo of me biting my gold medal.”
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The week started on another continent. Kim went 4-1-0 for the International team at the Presidents Cup at Medinah, then flew straight to Japan.
“I landed here at 5 a.m. Tuesday, took a shuttle out to the course at 8:30 a.m. and left at 6 p.m.,” Kim said. “I played my practice round in rain while still jet-lagged.”
“I tried not to think about it,” Kim said of the pressure. “I just tried to play (the) best for my country. It’s a big stepping stone. I think the pressure that I felt this week, I’ll be able to implement it in my upcoming seasons.”
The team event did not go South Korea’s way. China won team gold, South Korea took silver and Japan claimed bronze. That leaves S.H. Kim, who closed with a 73, without an exemption, while 35-year-old Mun Do-yeob shot 70 and had already completed his service.
Not every Korean star has avoided service. Sangmoon Bae won the 2015 Frys.com Open, his second PGA Tour title, and played in that year’s Presidents Cup. His request to extend his overseas travel permit was rejected, and he was discharged after 21 months as an army rifleman.
Bae returned for the 2017-18 season and made five cuts in 17 starts. He finished 202nd in the FedEx Cup standings and lost his card. “I thought it would not take that long (to get my game back), but I have struggled for almost a year,” Bae said.
Seung-yul Noh followed a similar path. He won the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans and left the Tour in late 2017 to begin his service. When he returned in 2020, he opened with four straight missed cuts.
Noh, now 35, spent this season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He sat 46th in the points standings earlier this week, and only the top 20 earn PGA Tour cards.
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Kim wasn’t the only South Korean to earn an exemption in Japan. Sixteen South Korean baseball players are exempt after beating Japan 3-1 in the gold medal game earlier in the week. Three South Koreans who won gold in esports are exempt as well.
Kim arrived on the PGA Tour fast. He won the 2022 Wyndham Championship at 20 and added the Shriners Children’s Open two months later, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to win twice on Tour before turning 21. He successfully defended his Shriners title in 2023.
That was his last PGA Tour win until the Genesis Scottish Open in July. The victory at The Renaissance Club was his fourth PGA Tour title and his first in 1,001 days.
His next target is the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where golf will be played at Riviera. “With the Olympics being in the U.S., I will feel pretty comfortable there, and I have played at Riviera many times,” Kim said. “My next goal is to win an Olympic gold medal.”
