Olympics
Tom Kim noticeably emotional after narrowly missing out on a medal to avoid mandatory military service
For those not paying attention, one of the biggest subplots this week at Le Golf National was the story of South Korea's Tom Kim, who could have avoided mandatory military service in his home country by medaling at the Olympics. His fellow countryman, Byeong Hun An, was also facing the same situation.
In South Korea, able-bodied men are obligated to serve 21 months of military service before they turn 35. To be exempt, you must win a medal at the Olympic Games or win a gold medal at the Asian Games, a feat two other South Korean golfers, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim, accomplished last fall. A former South Korean phenom, Sangmoon Bae, was not as fortunate. At 28 and at the peak of his golf career, Bae had to return home to complete his mandatory service in 2015. He returned to golf in 2017 but has been unable to reach the heights he once did in his late 20s.
At 22, Kim will have many more opportunities at playing his way out of mandatory military service, but that doesn't mean it's a given. As for An, who is 32, his time could be running out.
An never had much of a chance on Sunday, but Kim certainly did. Beginning the day at 10 under, it would have taken something special to reach the podium, and it appeared Kim was on his way to something special early, going four under over his first eight holes. A back-nine 36, which included a double at the last, though, saw Kim finish in solo eighth, just four shots away from bronze.
In the scoring trailer afterward, cameras captured an emotional Kim as he signed his scorecard:
Kim was asked afterward if the potential of mandatory military service was on his mind in this moment.
"Not at all. I wasn't really thinking about that at all," Kim said. "Just try and make a medal for my country and not myself."
Kim also added that he'd never been that emotional after a 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."
