The Ryder Cup isn’t the only big event in golf on this week, and for the likes of Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim they’re playing for a much bigger prize than just the Asian Games title in China.
Both Im and Kim are included in the South Korea golf team that will compete for individual and team medals at West Lake International Golf Course in Hangzhou, but the prize they have their eyes on is more than just a medal.
That’s because if they can win gold in either the team or individual event they’ll be exempt from completing the 21-month military service requirement that’s mandatory in South Korea.
PGA Championship winner YE Yang and eight-time PGA Tour winner KJ Choi both completed their military service in their 20s before their golf careers took off, but Sangmoon Bae is the big example of how it could disrupt a promising golf career.
Bae had won twice on the PGA Tour when he had to do his military service in 2015 aged 29 – and he’s never quite found his form again.
Im and Kim missed the chance to avoid military service when they failed to grab a medal of any colour at the last Olympics in Tokyo – and if they fail to get gold in China then next year’s 2024 Paris Olympics could be their last chance.
Koreans have to complete their military service by their mid-30s, so both 25-year-old Im and 29-year-old Kim are starting to run out of chances to claim that Olympic medal - especially with Tom Kim's emergence likely making it harder to guarantee a spot on the team.
A ruling in 2022 that professional golfers could now compete in the Asian Games, which had previously just been for amateurs, opened the door for another chance.
That gave the likes of Im and Kim an extra chance at claiming military exemption, but unlike the Olympics, where any medal will do, it has to be gold at the Asian Games.
Teams from Europe and USA may be fighting for the more widely recognised trophy, but for Im and Kim the rewards on offer at the Asian Games are even greater.
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