Tom Kim portrayed an emotional figure in the scorers' tent after the final round of the Men’s individual stroke play at Le Golf National, with the 22-year-old finishing solo eighth.
Kim, representing his native South Korea, needed a medal finish to avoid mandatory military service, but the multiple-time PGA Tour winner would finish four shots outside the medal places.
South Korean law requires all able-bodied men to serve 21 months of military service before they turn 35 and are expected to begin that service by the age of 28. Kim will likely have one more Olympic games to avoid such service, with any South Korean who wins an Olympic medal becoming automatically exempt from serving.
Golf will return to the Olympics in 2028, with Riviera Country Club primed to host the tournament. Kim must finish with a medal to avoid military service, as he stated: "I’ve never been really 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".
🚨😢🇰🇷 Tom Kim is emotional in the scoring trailer. A podium finish was needed to avoid the prospect of mandatory military service. pic.twitter.com/4I7X0WGMhPAugust 4, 2024
He went on to add: "I was struggling earlier this year and I really wanted to make the Olympics. Once that decision was made, it was almost like a huge burden came off my shoulders and then performing at the Olympics came on, and these last two weeks have been brutal trying to prepare, and just staying ahead. Then once the round finishes, everything is done and done. I think the emotions that I've held in this year are coming out.”
Kim was consoled on the 18th green by friend and gold medalist Scottie Scheffler, a friendship the 22-year-old admitted he was grateful for.
Incredible humility by Scottie Scheffler - delivers a final 9 that will win him the Gold, but has the presence of mind to comfort his friend Tom Kim who misses the chance to avoid mandatory military service in Korea. Another signature win for the no.1. #OlympicGames #OlympicGolf pic.twitter.com/SVEeZJP4oBAugust 4, 2024
"I'm so grateful for the friendship. He's a really good buddy of mine. Just the things Scottie said to me after the round really kind of came out and I'm just trying to hold it together. He understands what I've gone through. Just those things and a friend to say something like that after what he did, it means a lot."
Kim denied that military service was on his mind, stating that he “wasn’t thinking about it at all. I just try and make a medal for my country, not myself."
In regards to the mandatory military service, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim helped South Korea land gold at the 2023 Asian Games and, because of their heroics, it meant that the pair were awarded military exemptions from national service.
