Tom Kim Asian Games update: How is the PGA Tour golfer getting on?
The South Korean has kept alive his hopes of avoiding military service after 36 holes.
South Korea's Tom Kim has kept alive his hopes of avoiding military service after 36 holes of action at the Asian Games.
Kim carded a 4-under 66 in Thursday's second round at Kasugai Country Club to move to 7-under for the tournament, leaving him two shots behind co-leaders Wang Wei-hsuan of Chinese Taipei and China's Ding Wenyi.
The 24-year-old, whose Korean name is Kim Joo-hyung, made five birdies and one bogey to follow his opening 67 and move into a tie for third place at the halfway stage.
Kim is seeking a gold medal in Japan that would exempt him from South Korea's mandatory military service.
A gold in either the individual competition or the team event would allow him to avoid the standard military obligation and continue his professional career without an interruption of up to 21 months.
South Korea is also firmly in contention for the team gold, sitting third at 14-under after 36 holes. Japan leads at 16-under, with China one shot further back.
The team competition is based on the two lowest scores from each country's three-man team in each round, meaning Kim's performance is contributing directly to South Korea's medal hopes.
Fellow South Korean Mun Do-yeob, who has played in the LIV Golf League this season as a reserve, is also 7-under individually, while Kim Seong-hyeon is 1-under.
Mun has already completed his military service, meaning Kim and Kim Seong-hyeon are the two South Korean players with the exemption at stake.
Kim arrived in Japan after an eventful week at the Presidents Cup in Chicago, where he represented the International team just days before the Asian Games began.
He beat U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark in Sunday's singles and then travelled directly to Japan for the golf competition.
His second round was played under difficult circumstances, with slow play forcing Kim's group to finish under temporary floodlights.
The final group took more than five hours to complete its round.
Kim now has two rounds remaining to close the two-shot gap on the leaders and put himself in position for the individual gold.
The men's golf competition concludes on Saturday.
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