Tom Kim could have secured an exemption from South Korea's mandatory military service policy and enjoyed an uninterrupted PGA Tour career with a medal at the Olympic Games this summer .
But after a disastrous double-bogey finish on the 18th hole dashed his podium dreams, Kim was captured on video wiping away tears in the Olympic clubhouse as his countdown toward conscription continues.
"[I've] never been really emotional after a round," Kim said after Sunday's final round. "I think these emotions are surprising but I think it's just all the hard work I've done this year to put myself in this position, those things are coming out. Just the things Scottie [Scheffler] said to me after the round really kind of came out and I'm just trying to hold it together."
In a thrilling finish, Team Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood secured the silver medal, just a stroke behind American star. Meanwhile, Kim, who already has three PGA Tour event victories, entered the final afternoon of play on Sunday three strokes out of bronze but dipped to eighth after his final-hole flub.
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While Kim spent much of his childhood around southeast Asia and Oceania, including stints in Australia, Thailand and the Philippines, he was born in South Korea's capital city of Seoul and is the son of former professional golfer Kim Chang-ik. Kim was the Korean Tour Player of the Year in 2021 and earned a PGA Tour card for the 2022-23 season.
Despite an ancient history, the modern state of South Korea was founded in 1948 and faced almost immediate antagonism from their northern neighbors, as North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel and launched an invasion less than two years later. The ensuing three-year conflict claimed more than 2.5 million lives and in 1957, South Korea passed a mandatory conscription law requiring able-bodied men to complete an 18-21 month stint with the military between the ages of 18-35.
Korean men are required to be conscripted by the age of 28, a difficult age for many athletes who must take a lengthy hiatus during the prime of their careers. One notable example is Kim's compatriot Bae Sang-moon, who won PGA events in 2013 and 2014 but was forced into a 21-month conscription period the following year, posting just one T-45 finish in the 17 events upon his return and briefly losing his Tour card.
However, exceptions for this service are made for, among others, athletes who either medal at the Olympic Games or earn gold at the Asian Games. The most high-profile recent of this came in 2018 when Tottenham Hotspur football star Son Heung-min avoided conscription after leading the South Korean squad to gold at the Asian Games.
At just 22 years old, Kim has an additional opportunity to excuse himself from service, the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, and the three-time PGA Tour event winner has opted not to consider the ramifications of potential service on his career.
“It doesn’t worry me at all,” Kim said Thursday when asked about Bae. “It’s the way our country works, and good golf takes care of everything. Just because it happened to him doesn’t mean it happens to other people. You can’t say that it affected him at all. There could be different things that could have happened. I’m not really thinking about it. It’s not on my mind at all, I’m just trying to focus on my game.”
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