The ‘most important golf tournament of the weekend’ is underway in Asia as two players with a combined £43million earnings face military service if they fail to win.
On the same day that the Ryder Cup gets underway in Rome, attention has been drawn to a tournament in Asia which means so much more than mere victory for two South Korean players. Si Woo Kim, 39th world ranked, and Sungjae Im, 27th world ranked, reportedly must win the Asian Games to avoid mandatory military service.
The South Korean pair have earned a staggering £43m in prize money combined in their careers, but this weekend’s tournament is possibly the biggest of their career as they play for military exemptions.
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Im, 25 and Kim, 28 became the first South Korean professional pair to compete in the Asian Games in 2022 after the tournament became open to professionals from its previously only amateur participation. After being their nation’s two participants at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, they failed to win a medal of any colour, meaning they must do so at the Asian Games or the Paris Olympics next year to avoid military service.
According to Golf Digest, should they fail to be successful, they could suffer the same fate as former South Korean PGA Tour winner Sangmoon Bae who had to complete a near two-year military service after the 2015 Presidents Cup.
Military service in South Korea must be completed before your mid-30s and only those ‘largely exempt’ through various successes must fulfil the military requirement, which in in this case for Im and Kim is to win a medal within the next two years to avoid 20 months in the military.
The Asian Games is currently in round one with Im and Kim tied in 15th place on a -6 par, with the tournament currently led by amateur compatriot Jang Yubin, currently on a -11 par.
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