[Nagoya AG] Kim Joohyung Claims First Men's Golf Individual Gold in 16 Years... Korea Takes Silver in Team Event

Kim Joohyung, the leading figure in Korean men’s golf, has claimed the gold medal in the men’s individual event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. This is the first time in 16 years that a Korean male golfer has won an individual gold medal at the Asian Games since Kim Minhui accomplished this feat at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

On October 3, at the East Course (par 70) of Kasugai Country Club in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Kim Joohyung posted an impressive score of 6-under 64 in the final round of the men’s golf individual event, recording one eagle, five birdies, and one bogey. Having led the field after three rounds with a total of 12-under 198, he demonstrated steady play by shaving off another six strokes on the final day, finishing with a total score of 18-under 262. He secured the gold medal by defeating a group tied for second place by three shots.

Kim Joohyung is celebrating after securing the individual gold medal with a total score of 18 under par 262 in the 4th round of the men's golf event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held on the East Course at Kasugai Country Club in Aichi Prefecture, Japan on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

At the start of the tournament, Kim Joohyung had to deal with jet lag and sleep deprivation after traveling straight from the United States, where he participated in the Presidents Cup. He began with a 3-under-par to tie for seventh in the first round, then climbed to a tie for fifth by reducing his score by four strokes in the second round. He took the lead after cutting five strokes in the third round, and on the final day, recorded his best single-round total by shaving off six strokes, ultimately clinching the gold medal.

Thanks to Kim Joohyung’s performance, Korea also claimed the silver medal in the team event. In this competition, the scores of the top two players from each country are combined for each round to determine the team rankings. Korea finished with a combined total of 26-under-par 534. This placed them second, just two strokes behind China, which finished at 28-under-par 532. Together with Kim Joohyung, Moon Doyeop and Kim Sunghyun—who also competed—received silver medals.

Up until the third round, Korea was leading the team event with a 20-under-par 400, but China overtook them on the final day, denying Korea the chance at winning consecutive team golds following their victory at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

In women’s golf, the Korean team finished the Asian Games without a medal for the first time in history.

In the women’s individual event, rising star Yang Yunseo delivered a 2-under-par 68, scoring five birdies and three bogeys on the final day, for a total of 7-under-par 273—ultimately placing her fourth. The gold medal went to Pranavi Sharath Urs of India, who posted a 15-under-par 265. Lin Ruoning of China and Shannon Xuan Yin Tan of Singapore, who were tied at 14-under-par 266, went to a playoff, with Lin taking silver and Tan the bronze.

On the final day, Park Seojin cut five strokes for a total of 3-over-par 283, tying for 15th, while Kim Gyubin shot 9-over-par 289 to place 21st. Korea finished the women’s team event with a total of 7-under-par 553, putting them tied for fourth with Singapore and Thailand, following China (22-under-par), India (14-under-par), and Taiwan (10-under-par).

This is the first time since women’s golf became an official Asian Games sport at the 1990 Beijing Games that the Korean women’s team has failed to win a single medal in both the individual and team events. While it is the second time they have not won an individual medal, the first being at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, this is the first time they have not medaled in the team event. Before this tournament, Korea had always secured at least a silver medal in the women’s team event at every Asian Games.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.