South Korean golfer Sang-Moon Bae has been forced to leave the American Tour to fulfill his country’s mandatory military service.
Bae, 29, winner of two PGA Tour tournaments, including this season’s Frys Open, is ranked 107th in the world, where he is the second highest-ranked Korean after Byeong-Hun.
Bae had sought to get an extension of his overseas stay permit, which expired at the end of 2014, but a South Korean court rejected his request.
Instead of appealing the sentence, the player has “humbly” accepted the court ruling.
“I would like to apologize to my fans for causing them concern,” he said from Oakville, Ontario, where he is preparing to play the Canadian Open. “I have deduced,” he added, “that I can mature more as a golfer by returning home as soon as I can and completing mandatory military service.”
All South Korean men between the ages of 19 and 35 must serve two years in the Army, but some athletes have benefited from exemptions, including two baseball players on American teams.
Leave a Reply