High stakes, external pressure bring out best in Tom Kim, Adrian Meronk over wild golf weekend

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At the grocery store, suddenly, alongside regular options, are versions with more protein or more fiber. The maxxing trend has been taken to the exxtreme. Does one actually need 10 additional grams of protein in their strawberry Pop-Tarts? Is that what will lead you to hit your goals?

This conversation is not exclusive to grocery store aisles, of course. It is weighed in world affairs, financial sectors, entertainment and obviously sports. It is a constant barrage from every corner of life, and it is this current state of society that made this weekend in golf refreshing to watch unfold.

Professional golf has never had a more problem, unless we are discussing commercial load or pace of play. This past weekend had the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship (sure, a stretch of the “professional” designator) and tournaments on the DP World Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour and LPGA, as well as the Asian Games held in Japan.

That is plenty to consume in the first weekend of October, about a month after the FedEx Cup Playoffs ended. More than enough.

Tom Kim went straight from the Presidents Cup in Chicago to the Asian Games in Kasugai, Aichi, Japan. The games represented one of two remaining opportunities he had to earn an exemption from mandatory military service in his home country, South Korea.

Kim had to win a gold medal in either the individual competition or the team portion of the event. If he did not, his last remaining chance would be the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where a medal of any color would lead to an exemption. No more after that.

Two at-bats to avoid 21 months in the military. A commitment that has derailed PGA Tour players from South Korea in the past. That’s all Kim had after falling short in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The 24-year-old got what he came for. A final-round 64 was enough to convert his one-stroke lead at the 54-hole mark into a three-stroke victory by tournament’s end.

“At a [PGA Tour] event, it is not as if you would feel tension every day from Thursday to Sunday,” Kim said. “But this week, I was nervous from start to finish.”

Tom Kim wins the Asian Games Gold Medal in golf 🥇MILITARY EXEMPTION 🇰🇷 pic.twitter.com/HkaWIWqlpn

At the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour, Adrian Meronk — once a significant signing for LIV Golf’s Cleeks GC — completed what may have been the most important final round of his career. Arriving in St. Andrews No. 141 in the Race to Dubai standings, Meronk was in need of something to secure playing privileges somewhere else in 2027 with his home league’s status in flux.

With time running out and the season coming to a close, Meronk closed his front nine with a birdie while overnight leader Casey Jarvis slipped up on the Old Course’s short par 4. The two exchanged bogeys on the Road Hole a couple of hours later, leaving the 33-year-old from Poland with a two-stroke edge by the time the final putt dropped.

Now a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, Meronk has a card next year on the same circuit where he claimed Player of the Year honors over Rory McIlroy in 2023.

“It’s unreal to be honest. I never usually cry but this one feels special. I’m sorry, I’m just lost for words. It’s been quite a tough year for me and to win here after ten years since turning pro, it’s a dream come true.“After my drive on 18 I was quite happy with the position… pic.twitter.com/csS9JVcR7X

It is players like McIlroy that Austin Smotherman will see plenty of the next two seasons. In his 100th start on the PGA Tour, Smotherman put together a record-setting performance at the Bank of Utah Championship to claim his first career victory by two strokes over Doug Ghim.

Smotherman bounced back from an ugly double bogey from the middle of the fairway on No. 13 on Sunday with three birdies in his final five holes to secure his maiden trip to the winner’s circle. The win pushes the 32-year-old’s name from No. 79 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings to No. 51, all but securing spots in the field for Smotherman in the first two signature events of 2027.

More importantly, Smotherman locks up his place in the PGA Tour Championship Series in 2028, as exemptions earned this season will still carry weight when the tour’s new competitive structure arrives.

“My gosh, we won on the PGA Tour” 🥹An emotional Austin Smotherman catches up with @TheAmyRogers after winning the @BOUChampionship ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xbqamCY32W

The stakes on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour were not as severe as those Kim faced — how could they be? — but they were still present, and it is because these events all had something in common that their societal counterparts will never have …

An end line that can be seen, which in turn raises the stakes. It is under these conditions that the best comes out, especially in a sport such as golf.

Players are able to rise to the occasion. They are able to dig deep and muster up the strength they might not even know they possess to seize the moment. They are able to overcome the nerves, the doubts and the lack of additional chances down the pipeline to take what is out in front of them right then and now.

By staring down the barrel of less, they are able to get more out of themselves than they could ever imagine.