Olympic Golf: ‘Poor Lad’ Tom Kim’s Breakdown Over Military Service Blow Leaves Fans Devastated

Scottie Scheffler won the gold medal in golf at the Paris Olympics. While the action continued between Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele for two rounds, Scheffler took over in the fourth round and finished with a 265 19-under-par. Although it’s disheartening for Rahm and others who hoped to secure gold for their countries, the situation is even more heartbreaking for Tom Kim. How so? 

Kim hails from the Republic of Korea and in his country there is a rule for mandatory military service. Every able-bodied male citizen between 18 and 35 must serve in the military for a specified period. However, there is an exception.

If an athlete representing the Republic of Korea wins a medal at the Olympics, they are exempt from mandatory military service, and this was applicable to Tom Kim as well. Recently @NUCLRGOLF shared a video on X captioning “Tom Kim is emotional in the scoring trailer. A podium finish was needed to avoid the prospect of mandatory military service,” featuring Kim after his devasting loss.

In the video, the golfer was in tears not due to the loss of exemption but because he was unable to win a medal for his country. Ahead of the final round at the Olympics, he was asked about his thoughts on getting an exemption because of the Olympics.

In his response the golfer revealed that he wasn’t focused on the exemption, stating, “I think the easiest answer for us is we’re here to play good this week.” 

While talking about Tom Kim further added, “We are not focused on that. We are here to represent our country. And to be honest, I want me and Ben to be standing on that podium not for exemption but for our country,” as revealed on AP news website. After the video went viral, the fans were devasted to see the golfer in such an emotional state. 

Fans react to Tom Kim’s unfortunate loss

Expressing their reactions online, the golf fraternity voiced their opinions. One user while sympathizing with the golfer simply said “Poor lad,” highlighting the golfer wasn’t able to win any medal for his country and now he will have to do the mandatory military service as well. Expressing similar sentiments this fan added “That’s some serious pressure,” possibly highlighting the fact that representing one’s country at the Olympics already demands a lot of focus and energy, and while playing the golfer had the pressure of his military service as well.

While many expressed sadness over Kim’s loss one fan added “He’s got plenty of time and potentially two more Olympics.” The golfer is currently 22 years old and still has more than 10 years before he turns 35. Alluding to that this fan added the golfer can still compete in two more Olympics and if he manages to win it would exempt him from doing the necessary military service.

One fan took another Korean Golfer Sang-Moon Bae into account and commented “Sang-Moon Bae left the tour to serve and never made a comeback, killed his career.” Bae left the professional greens in 2015 and came back in 2017. However, by the time Bae returned he wasn’t in his peak form and hasn’t won any tournament since then. Considering this, Tom Kim may face the same situation as pointed out by this fan.

Explaining the exact problems of leaving the professional greens for two years one fan added “Can almost guarantee you he’s not sad to serve but sad it will severely hold him back from the amount of practice and competition it takes to perform at this level. Thats a huge blow.”

Kim already said “We are here to represent our country. And to be honest, I want me and Ben to be standing on that podium not for exemption but for our country,” as this fan also pointed out the same. Currently ranked #20 in the OWGR, if he steps away from professional golf now, the impact on his career is uncertain, which is the main concern troubling this fan. 

What do you think about Tom Kim stepping away from professional golf for the military services? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!