Categories crunchfx

Olympic medals of South Koreans Tom Kim and Ben An are important for their lives

Olympic medals of South Koreans Tom Kim and Ben An are important for their lives

play

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Whatever your interest in the final round of the Olympic men’s golf tournament on Sunday, cheer for South Korea’s Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An to win medals.

It would change their lives. Literally.

We often talk about the pressure to win in sports, but rarely has a sporting event carried such real-life implications for these two golfers as this tournament did.

In South Korea, able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to serve in the military for at least 18 months to two years. This practice is almost universal, whether they are celebrities or not. For example, members of internationally famous boy bands have been forced to serve.

“I think other Koreans would say, ‘Everyone else is going, so why are we exempt?'” An told reporters at Le Golf National this week.

But there are exceptions for special circumstances, and one of them is winning an Olympic medal. For South Korean golfers, winning any tournament outside the Asian Games — not even a major championship — doesn’t qualify.

Kim, 22, and An, 32, are both close to winning medals on Sunday and will need to play well.

An (7 under) is seven strokes behind leaders Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm after returning to contention with a 66 on Saturday. An was 8 under through the first 11 holes, got within a few strokes of the leader, then found the water on the 13th hole and made double bogey.

Kim (10 under) opened Saturday with 66 and 68 to start the round just three strokes behind. But he couldn’t make up much ground on the leaders on Saturday and finished with a 69. He will start Saturday four strokes behind the leader and is tied for sixth.

Kim, one of the bright young stars on the PGA Tour who stars in the Netflix golf series “Full Swing,” didn’t want to discuss the topic too much this week. “Good question,” he said after Friday’s second round when asked how he could possibly get in the way of what it would mean for him to be competitive in the Olympics.

“I want Ben and I to stand in that stadium not for exemption but for our country,” Kim told reporters before the tournament. “That’s the most important part. That’s the pride of being South Korean. We have services and that’s how it is.”

This issue has come up before in golf. Last year, Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im were exempted from service after helping the South Korean team win gold at the Asian Games.

Sang-Moon Bae is perhaps the most famous example. He played and won on the PGA Tour before serving in the military, and his performance declined after he returned to golf.

“It’s not easy,” An told reporters this week. “You can’t practice or play for about a year and a half. It’s very difficult for golfers.”