An emotional Tom Kim has apologized to his home fans and vowed to "try harder" following an eighth-place finish at the Paris 2024 men's Olympic golf tournament.
Kim began the final round at Le Golf National on 10-under, three strokes away from the medal positions and on the same score as eventual Olympic champion, Scottie Scheffler.
But while Scheffler capitalized on a solid front nine to kick on and take the gold medal from around the neck of Tommy Fleetwood, Kim stumbled through his back nine somewhat to card a closing three-under 68 - four strokes away from bronze.
The 22-year-old - along with his 32-year-old fellow countryman Byeong Hun An - was attempting to win a medal in order to avoid the 21 months of mandatory military service which all able-bodied men from South Korea are expected to carry out before the age of 35.
To be exempt, players must win any Olympic medal or claim gold at the Asian Games - something Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim managed last year.
But, after failing in his endeavour and being visibly upset in the scorer's tent, Kim wrote a lengthy post on social media to explain his feelings.
Translated from Korean, part of the post read: "Until now, there are no Korean golfers who have Olympic games every month, so this time, my Korean players ate hard and ran with the burden... But I feel so sorry and more responsible for not doing that.
"To all the Korean fans who cheered me on the field as well as in Korea, I am very sorry that I did not get the desired result and I will try harder. Thank you."
At the end of a relatively disappointing round from Kim's point of view and moments after Scheffler had reached the clubhouse at -19, the World No.1 and close friend of Kim shared some private words with his buddy and rival on the 18th green.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Kim refused to share what exactly was said in his post-tournament press conference, but mentioned the moment in his Instagram post before going on to admit tearing up "for the first time" after a round of golf.
Kim continued: "Huge shout out to [Scottie Scheffler], man, this guy never fails to impress me. I cherish our moments but this one was very special. Despite what he had done, what you said to me after our round meant everything to me. Happy for you and your team. Congrats Pards.
"Words can't express how honored I am to be on the Olympic stage with the Korean Taekwondo flying to the ground. For the first time, I shed tears after the match.. Seeing yourself with tears that even when you won, it's really motivating to see you. I will be on this stage again. I promise you. I love you Korea."
Kim will now return to the PGA Tour ahead of the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin with the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind between August 15-18.
