“Wanted to fight for every shot” - Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im triumph at Asian Games, earn exemption from military service
Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im won the team event at the Asian Games defeating Thailand to earn exemption from the mandatory 21-month South Korean military service. Playing at the West Lake International Golf Course, the duo shot a score of 76 under par to win the gold medal at the mega event in China.
After his victory at the tournament, Im spoke with the media and shared that he was relieved now. He added that the four-day event was the longest day of his golf career. As quoted by NUCLR GOLF on X/Twitter, he said,
"This has been the longest four days of my career. Every hole felt so important, and I knew every shot counted for our team event. I wanted to fight for every shot and do the best I could until the finish."
Sungjae Im added that he should be able to focus on his PGA Tour career and could have a "long and successful run" on the Tour after getting an exemption from the South Korean military service.
"I think I should be able to stay focused even more on the PGA Tour. I feel like I can have a really long and successful run there. I think this will help me so much mentally," Im said.
Sungjae Im finished second with a score of 26 under par on the individual leaderboard. He missed the top spot by a mere one stroke and was placed behind Taichi Cho of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, his compatriot Si Woo Kim, a four-time PGA Tour winner, finished fourth in the individual tournament. However, he was also relieved from the mandatory 21 months of South Korean military service after the gold medal win at the Asian Games.
Exploring Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im performance and earnings on the PGA Tour in the 2022-23 season
Both the South Korean golfers have been an integral part of the PGA Tour for quite some time now. In the 2022-23 season, Im played 30 events while Kim had 28 starts.
Sungjae Im had made it into the weekend play on 24 occasions and finished 18 times inside the top 25 on the leaderboard. He had nine top 10 finishes this season as well.
The two-time PGA Tour winner accumulated a total of $6,487,421 as on-course earnings in the 2022-23 season. This took his overall tour earnings to $23,434,803.
Meanwhile, Si Woo Kim missed the cut in five tournaments this season. However, he registered his fourth PGA Tour victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii in mid-January.
The 28-year-old South Korean golfer also had five top 10 finishes this season. He has earned $5,380,062 on the course to take his overall PGA tour earnings to $22,169,854.