He was four strokes short of T3. Yes, we are talking exactly about Tom Kim, the South Korean athlete who finished T8 at the recently ended Olympics men’s golfing event. The athlete wasn’t able to leave the mark he desired on the quadrennial event. However, what he did afterward seems to have left a mark on the community. The golfer penned down an emotional apology to his fans resulting in an outpouring of support from them.

Kim shared a series of pictures on his Instagram, expressing his gratitude to God, Scottie Scheffler, and the Korea Golf Association for their support during his Olympic run. Kim also expressed regret for not clinching a podium finish and apologized to his fans in Korean. The translation, according to Instagram, is as follows: “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.”

Over the four days of play, the athlete scored a figure of 13-under 271 allowing him to card a top-10 finish. He did so while carding a total of 18 birdies, 5 bogeys, 1 eagle, and 1 double bogey each over the four rounds. Regardless of the loss, Tom Kim’s scintillating numbers of 66-68-69-68, coupled with his honest and emotional message were more than enough to push the fans in the community to exude support for the golfer.

Fans dub South Korea’s Tom Kim as the ‘Goat’

The golfer boasts a total of 12 professional wins in his career including three on the PGA Tour. However, he has not been able to rake in a medal at the Asian Games or the Olympics. This has, in turn, led Tom Kim to be unable to get exempted from mandatory Military duty. A couple of fans couldn’t help but comment, “Your medal is coming soon,” and “My [goat] what a player medal in LA for sure.” Another follower, at the same time, didn’t shy away from mentioning how the 22-year-old will clinch a major victory as well soon, “Well done!!!!! A major is in your future.”

Many fans were unable to catch Tommy Fleetwood and his gameplay on the BBC coverage. Consequently, a lot of people in the community took it upon themselves to give the network a piece of their minds. They even went ahead to dub the broadcast as nothing short of “s**t”. But that didn’t seem to be the case for Kim and his fans, one of whom responded, “Dear Tom, you did your best and did a great job. Thanks to you, I enjoyed the Olympic Golf in my house. In front of the TV ^^. You have the next Olympics. Let’s cheer up together.”

Although the golfer shared the message in his mother tongue, the Korean language, an admirer didn’t seem to care. “Love this guy in all languages,” one fan said. Well, it appears the best performance ever dished out at the Olympics by a South Korean golfer was able to move many hearts, especially when one couples it with the humble and modest attitude of the professional. Nevertheless, Tom Kim’s performance and mindset is one that truly deserves praise!