PARIS—The Olympic golf competitors is a little bit just like the velodrome biking races, during which the opponents cruise and feint till a ferocious sprint to the end line. Midway via the golf at these Video games, a rain-softened Le Nationwide has provided little resistance as one of the best gamers on the planet jockey for place. Atop the leaderboard at -11 are three of the sweetest swingers within the recreation: Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood. Jon Rahm is in fourth place, two pictures from the rostrum. Lurking are big-time abilities Joaquin Niemann (-6), Scottie Scheffler (-6), Matt Fitzpatrick (-6), Jason Day (-5) and Rory McIlroy (-5), amongst others.
Throughout Saturday’s third around the peloton will start pedaling tougher. In terms of Olympic golf, 4th place has the identical which means as sixtieth. There aren’t any money payouts to guard, no FedEx Cup factors to hoard. Aggressive play now borders on necessary. “Because the week goes on it turns into extra of a psychological problem,” says Fleetwood. “Clearly you realize that [the top] three locations are what will resolve your week. Normally, you end prime 5, prime 10, you’ve had an ideal week, however [here] it don’t imply something.”
This uncommon alternative to play in your homeland and for a medal provides new layers of stress, however one participant on the leaderboard faces a novel stress-fest. Tom Kim, tied for fifth at -8, is enjoying for his future. The cherubic 22 year-old is representing South Korea, the place each wholesome grownup male underneath 35 should serve a obligatory 21-month stint within the army. Successful a Masters or U.S. Open is not going to exempt him from service underneath the Orwellian-sounding Navy Manpower Administration. Neither will profitable a FedEx Cup or Race to Dubai. The one manner Kim—the youngest three-time winner on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods—can play his manner out of this profession abyss is by profitable an Olympic medal. (A gold on the Asian Video games, which has historically been a contest for amateurs, additionally counts. In 2023 professionals had been allowed to play and Kim’s countryman Sungjae Im, then 25, and Si Woo Kim, 28, took benefit of this window by main Korea to victory within the crew competitors; there may be rumbling that the Asian Video games will return to ams-only within the close to future.)
The looming army stint is Kim’s least favourite subject, and he bats away queries with curt platitudes. Following his second spherical 68 I requested Kim how he can’t take into consideration the bigger which means of an Olympic medal. “Good query,” he mentioned with a decent smile. “I’m simply attempting to give attention to my recreation. I’m a competitor and all of us play for a similar factor. It’s simply golf. So I’m simply attempting to place my head down and play.”
He feigned ignorance on when precisely he could be conscripted, or how he would possibly presumably get out of it: “I don’t know. I want I might let you know.”
However, Tom, that is sort of an enormous deal, proper?
“100%. Like, I’m not attempting to lie or something like that. I actually don’t know. I’ve been over within the U.S. for therefore lengthy, I simply carry on going.”
The specter of Sang Moon Bae haunts each proficient younger Korean golfer. Bae was a birdie machine who gained two Tour occasions by age 25. A few months after representing the Internationals within the 2015 Presidents Cup he misplaced his enchantment to the Navy Manpower Administration and needed to report for responsibility as a rifleman. He was woke up at daybreak each morning for calisthenics and lengthy jogs. He was compelled to check army principle and spend numerous hours honing his marksmanship. (Sami Valimaki, at the moment in nineteenth place at these Video games, served six months within the Finnish military on the outset of his golf profession and describes his coaching succinctly: “Capturing heads.”) Bae has been a non-factor within the seven years since he left the military. “My swing is best,” he as soon as lamented to the AP’s Doug Ferguson, “however I’ve sort of misplaced my really feel for methods to play golf. Not methods to swing—I forgot methods to play golf.”
That’s one drawback Kim doesn’t have, as he has displayed a Spiethian capability to save lots of pictures as a finesse participant in a recreation more and more outlined by energy. “He doesn’t hit it miles however he hits it far sufficient,” says Ben An, additionally representing Korea at these Video games. “He hits it very straight. He has nice contact across the greens. Nice putter. I’d like to see what he can do within the subsequent 10, 15, 20 years.” With a contact of wistfulness, An provides, “He’s a star already, so we’ll see what occurs within the subsequent couple years.”
Korea’s most adorned golfers, Ok.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang, each did their army service of their early 20’s earlier than that they had established themselves as professional golfers. Along with his Tour success, Kim has gained the Singapore Worldwide and Indian Open and boasts two victories on the Asian Tour and a pair on the Korean Tour. (He turned professional at 15.) Kim was a jovial presence on the second season of Netflix’s Full Swing and, along with his simple smile, he makes a wonderful goodwill ambassador for his homeland. However his high-profile nearly works in opposition to him in egalitarian Korea. “It sucks it’s a must to quit golf,” says An, “however the different Koreans would say, ‘Everybody goes [into service], so why will we get exempt from it?’”
So Kim performs on, with a lot hanging within the steadiness. There isn’t a assure he’ll get one other probability at a medal in 4 years in Los Angeles. Even opponents from different nations who covet Olympic glory discover themselves rooting for Kim. “It’s a tricky one,” says Australia’s Min Woo Lee. “It looks as if [Korean golfers] have much more stress than what I’ve and what different folks have as a result of it impacts their lives fairly onerous. I imply, hopefully he will get it achieved. He’s undoubtedly adequate to get a gold medal. He’s a cracker of a golfer.”
However will Kim crack underneath the Olympian pressure? That’s the most intriguing query because the golf competitors roars into the weekend.
Prime Picture Caption: Tom Kim, 22, wants an Olympic medal to keep away from necessary army service. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)
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