PGA Tour Star Kim Joo-hyung Wins Asian Games Gold and Military Exemption

By Yoo Jee-ho

KASUGAI, Japan, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- By winning his first career Asian Games gold medal in men's golf Saturday, PGA Tour member Kim Joo-hyung did not just give himself some shiny prize to hang around his neck.

He also earned exemption from the military service, mandatory for able-bodied South Korean men.

Athletes who win an Asian Games gold medal but who have not already completed their military duty are eligible.

For those based overseas like Kim, receiving that exemption means a long and likely lucrative career uninterrupted in their prime years.

Kim, 24, won the individual gold medal by shooting 18-under 262 at Kasugai Country Club East Course in Kasugai, just northeast of the main host city of Nagoya, and became the latest in a line of high-profile South Korean athletes who have enjoyed this benefit in recent years.

Football star Son Heung-min generated international headlines for receiving his exemption with the 2018 Asian Games gold medal. His fellow national team mainstay, Lee Kang-in, helped lead South Korea to gold at the next Asian Games in 2023.

Baseball has seen several current and future Major League Baseball (MLB) players secure that exemmption over the years -- Park Chan-ho, Kim Byung-hyun, Choo Shin-soo, Kang Jung-ho, Lee Jung-hoo and Kim Ha-seong, among others.

In golf, Kim Joo-hyung followed two fellow PGA Tour veterans in Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae, who combined for the team gold medal three years ago.

At the start of his PGA Tour career, Kim Joo-hyung, better known as Tom Kim in America, was hailed as the next big thing in men's golf. He had two victories before turning 21 -- the first player to do so since Tiger Woods in 1996.

And the military service exemption comes at a particularly opportune moment for Kim, as he recently emerged from a long slump and should be hitting his prime years.

In July this year, Kim won the Genesis Scottish Open for his first PGA Tour win since October 2023. Just before the Asian Games, Kim made his third Presidents Cup appearance for the International Team, going 4-1-0 for his team-best four points in a losing cause.

He flew straight from the Presidents Cup in the United States to Japan for the Asian Games this week. He fought jet lag in the early going to open with a 67, and then followed that up with rounds of 66 and 65 before capping it all off with 64.

Kim said afterward he tried to stay off news and social media during the tournament, so as not to lose sight of what he came to Japan to accomplish.

"I did not pay any mind to reports (about my military service exemption)," Kim said. "If I had been reading news, maybe I would not have won this gold medal. I traveled here to represent the country, not to accomplish any personal goal, and I tried to stay focused on that."