Tom Kim’s last PGA Tour win, which came at the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open in July, ended with a congratulatory text from Tiger Woods. On Saturday, as Kim prepared for a career-altering round at the 2026 Asian Games, Woods sent him a different message.
“Just be you. Nothing more, nothing less,” the message from Woods 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 awards 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 still scared as [expletive],” Si Woo Kim told The Associated Press’ Doug Ferguson in March of his Asian Games win.
That’s what Kim faced Saturday as he entered the final round holding a one-shot lead over Japan’s Kazuki Higa and Taiwan’s Wang Wei-hsuan.
Spurred 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-round 6-under 64 saw Kim finish at 18-under and claim the gold medal at Kasugai’s East course in Japan and earn an exemption for his military service.
“I came here believing that if I just did my thing, things would work out well in the end,” Kim said via Yonhap. “I tried to maintain 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-altering week. He arrived in Japan straight from the Presidents Cup in Medinah, Illinois, played one “jet-lagged” practice round and then had to start his march to gold.
“At a tour event, it is not as if you would feel tension every day from Thursday to Sunday,” Kim said. “But this week, I was nervous from start to finish. I told myself this would be the longest week of my life. And once I had that in mind, I was able to keep my composure.”
After holing a four-foot putt for the gold medal on 18, Kim felt only one thing: relief.
“I feel like I have been unloading things off my shoulders all season, like taking water buckets out of my bag,” Kim said. “I think I can finally get a good night’s sleep now.”
It has been a resurgent year for the 24-year-old Kim, who had seen his game dip a bit in recent years. He won in Scotland and was the International Team’s biggest star at the Presidents Cup in a gut-wrenching loss at Medinah. 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 will send him a photo of me biting my gold medal,” Kim said.
