Tom Kim (Joohyung Kim) won gold in the 2026 Asian Games individual golf tournament in Japan, and, with the win, earned an exemption from mandatory military conscription in his native South Korea.
Kim shot a final-round 64 on the East Course at Kasugai Country Club in Japan to win by three shots over Kazuki Higa, Wenyi Ding and Sadom Kaewkanjana on 18-under 262. In a subsequent playoff, Higa won to earn the silver medal, while Kaewkanjana earned the bronze medal, leaving Ding off the podium.
With the win, Kim, who flew over directly from the Presidents Cup in Chicago, earns an exemption into mandatary South Korea military service. Young men are legally conscripted into the Korean military for 18-21 months in their 20s unless they earn an exemption, which can come from winning a gold medal in the Asian Games or any medal in the Olympics.
“I tried not to think about it,” Kim said after the win. “I just tried to play my best for my country. Selfishly, I didn't really think about myself. I just wanted to bring a medal home for my country."
Kim admitted he had hoped to win gold in the team competition with his fellow countrymen. Two-time PGA Tour winner S.H. Kim was on the team and needed gold to earn the military exemption. However, S.H. Kim shot 73 in the final round, and the South Korean team lost out to the team from China by two shots, shooting a combined team total of 26 under par, where the top two scores from the three-person team counted each day toward the team total.
Doyeob Mun, the 35-year-old who rounded out the team, has already served in the military, and he shot 70 in the final round for the second counting score.
Japan won bronze in the team competition.
Fellow Koreans Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim achieved the same exemption as Tom Kim in the last Asian Games, back in 2023, winning the team competition.
The 24-year-old Kim saw his performance this week as a huge boost to his professional profile, only encouraging him to believe he can perform under difficult circumstances.
"It’s a big stepping stone," Kim said. "I think the pressure that I felt this week, I’ll be able to implement it in my upcoming seasons, and hopefully I can keep getting better every day.”
