Tom Kim’s last victory on the PGA Tour, which came at the Genesis Scottish Open in July. finished with a congratulatory text by Tiger Woods. On Saturday, as Kim prepared for a career-changing turn at the 2026 Asian Games, Woods sent him a different message.
“Just be you. Nothing more, nothing less,” Woods’ message said, via Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Kim arrived in Japan for this week’s Asian Games under immense pressure. South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to serve up to 21 months in the defense forces. PGA Tour pros Sangmoon Bae and Seung-yul Noh served during their prime and it impacted their golf. But the South Korean government grants exemptions to athletes who win a gold medal at the Asian Games or any of the three medals at the Olympics. Si Woo Kim and Sunjae Im won a gold medal in the team competition at the 2023 Asian Games, earning an exemption from military service.
“I was always scared like (expletive),” Si Woo Kim Doug Ferguson told the Associated Press in March of his Asian Games victory.
That’s what Kim faced Saturday as he entered the final round holding a one-point lead over Japan’s Kazuki Higa and Taiwan’s Wang Wei-hsuan.
Fueled by a text from his idol and friend, Kim played his best golf on Saturday. He birdied Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11 before making an eagle on the par-5 13th to gain some breathing room. A final 6-under 64 saw Kim finish at 18-under and claim the gold medal on Japan’s Kasugai East course and earn an exemption for his military service.
“I came here believing that if I just do my thing, things will work out in the end,” Kim said via Yonhap. “I tried to keep that mindset throughout and just play my game.”
With a South Korean flag draped around his shoulders, Kim explained the pressure of a mentally taxing and life-changing week. He came to Japan directly from the Presidents’ Cup in Medinah, Illinois, he played a “jet-lagged” practice round and then had to begin his march to gold.
“In a tour event, it’s not like you feel tension every day from Thursday to Sunday,” Kim said. “But this week, I was nervous from start to finish. I said this would be the longest week of my life. And once I had that in mind, I was able to keep my composure.”
After hitting a four-foot putt for the gold medal on 18, Kim felt only one thing: relief.
“I feel like I’ve been taking things off my shoulders all season, like taking buckets of water out of my bag,” Kim said. “I think I can finally get a good night’s sleep now.”
It was a year of resurgence for the 24-year-old Kim, who had seen his game dip a bit in recent years. He won in Scotland and was the biggest star of the International Team at the Presidents Cup in a heartbreaking loss in Medina. With golf now able to be his sole focus, Kim said he hopes to win an Olympic gold medal for his country in 2028 at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
But first, Tom Kim can exhale and send a message back to Woods, his TGL teammate and friend, showing that he followed his advice and got the job done.
“I think I’ll send him a picture of me biting into my gold medal,” Kim said.