South Korean golfers trying to win Asian Games to be free from military duty

NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — A gold medal for two South Korean golfers at the Asian Games would mean more than a chunk of metal to dangle around their necks.

For Kim Joo-hyung and Kim Seong-hyeon, winning gold at the Asian Games — in the men's individual or team event — would excuse them from mandatory military service at home.

Kim Joo-hyung goes by Tom Kim when he plays on the PGA Tour, and Kim Seong-hyeon goes by S.H. Kim.

Under any name, they got a good start in the first round on Wednesday toward landing the exemption. The final round is Saturday.

“I am 100% nervous,” S.H. Kim said. “A lot of pressure.” He added he's struggling with knee and back injuries and was not optimistic about his chances in the individual event.

“Team gold is easier,” he said.

Japan led the men's team competition after the first round, with South Korea and China two strokes behind.

In the individual event, Wang Wei-hsuan of Taiwan and Kazuki Higa of Japan were tied at 5-under 65 atop the leaderboard at Kasugi Country Club.

Mun Do-yeob, the third member of the South Korea team, was tied with four others at 4-under 66.

Unlike his teammates, 35-year-old Mun doesn't need the exemption. In South Korea most men serve 18-21 months of military service.

“I already finished my military service so I don’t really think about the military (exemption)", Mun said. “But I want to play good, so we make our team get a gold medal ... to make sure they don't go to the military.”

The format is 72 holes of stroke play. The teams are made up of three players, but only the best two scores count each day toward the team total.

Mun led South Korea with a 66 and Tom Kim shot 67. S.H. Kim shot a 68, so his score was excluded from the team total of 133.

Japan was in at 131 with Higa's 65 and a 66 by Keita Nakajima.

“I went to the military really early,” Mun said. “It gave me a lot of experience, but I was lucky that I could play a little bit of golf at the army. Maybe three times a week.

“I was teaching golf and I was picking up the golf balls from the generals’ driving range. But now they don’t have those kind of (assignments).”

See full AP coverage of Asian sports here