Tom Kim Wins Asian Games Golf Gold, Securing Military Service Waiver
The short version
- Tom Kim's final-round 64 gave him an 18-under 262 total and men's individual golf gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya.
- Asian Games gold exempts South Korean men from roughly 18 months of mandatory military service.
- S.H. Kim received no exemption after South Korea took team silver behind China.
- Sixteen baseball players and three esports athletes from South Korea also earned exemptions.
- Yonhap recently called the more than 50-year-old waiver system outdated and urged reform.
The South Korean closed with a 6-under 64 in Nagoya to take the men's individual title, a result that exempts him from the country's mandatory military duty.
NAGOYA, Japan — Tom Kim traveled to the Asian Games intent on a gold medal and the military-service waiver attached to it, and he delivered. The South Korean captured the men's individual golf event on Saturday, a result that spares him the compulsory duty most of his countrymen must complete.
The tournament was 72 holes of stroke play at Kasugai Country Club, a 7,035-yard layout Kim commanded throughout. His final-round 64 — 6 under par — lifted him to 18-under 262 for the week, three strokes ahead of Japan's Kazuki Higa, China's Ding Wenyi and Thailand's Sadom Kaewkanjana. Those three went into a playoff to decide which of them took the silver and bronze medals.
Simply reaching Japan took effort on Kim's part. Once the Presidents Cup concluded last weekend, he made the trans-Pacific journey specifically to compete. Formally Kim Joo-hyung, he plays the PGA Tour under the name Tom Kim, while teammate Kim Seong-hyeon competes internationally as S.H. Kim.
South Korean policy generally obliges able-bodied men to serve roughly 18 months in the armed forces. An Olympic medal of any color, or Asian Games gold, cancels that obligation. The same privilege covers classical and traditional musicians, dancers and other artists regarded as raising the country's prestige.
The arrangement is more than 50 years old, and not everyone at home views it as fair. Days before Kim's victory, the South Korean news agency Yonhap described the system as behind the times and pressed for reform.
The team competition brought a harsher outcome for the South Korean men. China claimed that title, leaving Kim's squad with silver, so S.H. Kim departs without a waiver after a final-round 73. The third member, 35-year-old Mun Do-yeob, posted a 70; he had already fulfilled his service and had no need of the benefit. Squads carried three players, with only the best two scores each day counting toward the team total.
Kim's scoring owed plenty to the par-5 13th at Kasugai, a 520-yard hole that sunshine and calm air made inviting over the closing rounds. He eagled it on each of the final two days.
Golfers were hardly the only South Koreans collecting exemptions at these Games. Sixteen baseball players secured theirs by beating Japan 3-1 in the final earlier in the week, and three more did so through an esports gold medal. "Of course the result is important, and the fact that the players will be exempt from the military service is important," said Lee Sang-hyeok, the esports star who competes as Faker. He won gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games three years earlier and this time spared his teammates conscription.
Looking ahead, South Korea hosts Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 7:00 a.m. EDT at Yongin Citizen Sports Park.
