Kim Joo-hyung Wins Asian Games Golf Gold as South Korea Takes Team Silver
PGA Tour winner Kim Joo-hyung shot a final-round 64 to claim the men’s individual golf title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, while South Korea finished second in the team competition.
South Korean golfer Kim Joo-hyung won the men’s individual title at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Saturday, adding a major multisport honor to a career that already includes four victories on the PGA Tour.
Kim closed the tournament with a six-under-par 64 at Kasugai Country Club East Course in Kasugai, northeast of the main host city of Nagoya. The final-round performance took him to 18-under 262 for the competition and secured the individual gold medal.
The result also carried significance beyond the podium. Kim, 24, became eligible for an exemption from South Korea’s mandatory military service under the country’s rules for athletes who win gold at the Asian Games and have not already completed their duty. The benefit has previously applied to other leading Korean golfers, including PGA Tour players Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae, who earned it after helping South Korea win the men’s team title three years earlier.
Kim’s closing 64 proved decisive in the individual competition and also counted toward South Korea’s score in the team event. Under the team format, the two best scores from each country’s three players were combined after every round. South Korea completed the tournament at 26-under, finishing behind China to take the silver medal.
The two medals highlighted South Korea’s continuing strength in Asian golf, even though the country did not repeat its previous team gold. Kim’s individual victory ensured that the delegation still left the men’s tournament with the top prize in one of the two events.
For Kim, the title represented a successful transition from the weekly professional tour environment to a national-team competition in which individual and collective results were determined at the same time. His final round strengthened South Korea’s team total while carrying him to the top of the individual standings.
Kim entered the Asian Games as one of the most accomplished players in the field because of his four PGA Tour titles. His six-under final round completed a four-day total that was enough for the individual championship. Kim secured the gold medal, while South Korea added a team silver to the national Asian Games medal tally.