Tom Kim’s Life-Changing Asian Games Gold Began with a Message from Tiger Woods

Tom Kim’s most recent PGA Tour victory, at the co-sanctioned Genesis Scottish Open in July, ended with a congratulatory text from Tiger Woods. On Saturday, before a career-altering final round at the 2026 Asian Games, Woods sent Kim a different message.

“Just be you. Nothing more, nothing less,” Woods wrote, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

Kim arrived in Japan for the Asian Games under immense pressure. South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to complete up to 21 months of military service. PGA Tour players Sangmoon Bae and Seung-yul Noh served during their primes, and it affected their golf. South Korea grants exemptions to athletes who win a gold medal at the Asian Games or any of the three Olympic medals. Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im won gold in the team competition at the 2023 Asian Games and earned exemptions from military service.

“I was still scared as hell,” Si Woo Kim told The Associated Press in March, recalling his Asian Games victory.

That was the situation Tom Kim faced as he began the final round with 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 Saturday. He birdied the second, fourth, sixth, eighth and 11th holes before making an eagle on the par-5 13th to build some breathing room. A final-round 64, six under par, left Kim at 18 under for the tournament, secured the gold medal at Kasugai’s East Course in Japan and earned him an exemption from military service.

“I came here believing that if I just did my thing, things would work out well in the end. I tried to maintain that mindset throughout and just play my game,” Kim said, according to Yonhap.

With a South Korean flag draped around his shoulders, Kim explained the pressure of a mentally taxing, life-altering week. He arrived in Japan directly from the Presidents Cup in Medinah, Illinois, played one “jet-lagged” practice round and then began his march toward gold.

“At a tour event, it’s not as if you feel tension every day from Thursday to Sunday. But this week, I was nervous from start to finish. I told myself this would be the longest week of my life. Once I had that in mind, I was able to keep my composure,” Kim said.

After holing a four-foot putt on the 18th to secure the gold medal, Kim felt only relief.

“I feel like I’ve been unloading things off my shoulders all season, like taking water buckets out of my bag. I think I can finally get a good night’s sleep now,” Kim said.

It has been a resurgent year for the 24-year-old Kim, whose game had dipped somewhat in recent years. He won in Scotland and was the International Team’s biggest star at the Presidents Cup, which ended in a gut-wrenching loss at Medinah. With golf now able to be his sole focus, Kim said he hopes to win Olympic gold for South Korea in 2028 at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

But first, Tom Kim can exhale and send a message back to Woods—his friend and TGL teammate—showing that he followed the advice and got the job done.

“I think I’ll send him a photo of me biting my gold medal,” Kim said.