After losing two years of his prime, sun rises again on Sangmoon Bae

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Imagine being at the top of your life’s profession, confident and comfortable in the world you’ve built for yourself through years of hard work … and then you’re ordered to tear it all up and start over again.

Sangmoon Bae, a PGA Tour player from South Korea, had it all.

And then he had it all taken away from him.

Now at the age of 31, after losing two years of his professional life while in the prime of his career, Bae is putting the pieces back together. Merely being back doing what he’s always wanted to do — play golf for a living — took the edge off Thursday’s 2-over 74 in the opening round of the Genesis Open. Staring from the iconic clubhouse atop the hill across the magnificent vistas at venerable Riviera Country Club, which Bae called “one of my favorite courses,’’ was enough to dull the sting of a mediocre round.

As corny as it may sound, it’s true: When you have something taken away from you and you get it back again, your appreciation for it heightens intensely.

This is where Bae is in his life now: Appreciating every bit of it all in a way he never had before.

In 2015, at age 29, Bae had the best year of his career, winning the Frys.com Open, his second career PGA Tour victory, and earning $2.6 million.

At the end of that year, he was ordered by the South Korean government to serve a mandatory two years in the country’s military. The forced time away not only cost Bae potentially millions of dollars earned but also denied him a chance to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Bae requested an extension from the Military Manpower Administration in South Korea in 2015 so he could continue his golf career while in his prime, but he was denied. There have been known exemptions given to athletes winning an Olympic gold medal. Obviously, Olympic medals carry more weight in South Korea than PGA Tour victories.

So from 2015 until late in 2017, Bae went from earning $2.6 million in a year to making a reported $130 a month for his military service.

“I will miss the PGA Tour and the competition,” Bae said before he left to serve. “I feel really sad about that. But I will be back and I will stay patient and be strong.”

His road back since completing his service hardly has been easy. Before finishing tied for 15th last week at Pebble Beach, Bae had missed the cut in seven of the eight tournaments he entered, dating back to last fall. The only cut he made was at some tournament called the C.J. Cup at Nine Bridges, where he finished tied for 61st last October.

Put yourself in Bae’s shoes and imagine the doubts he must have had when he returned to tournament golf, wondering if he’d ever be able to get his game back, if he’d be able to contend again, win again.

Padraig Harrington, a veteran three-time major championship winner who’s become legend for tinkering with his game, said he “can’t imagine doing” what Bae has done.

“The most important thing on Tour is feeling like you belong and you’re comfortable in your game,” Harrington said. “Once you get established on Tour, you feel that way. When you leave, you have to do it all again. Bae has to come back another time and prove his game is good enough. It’s a really difficult thing to do. To get comfortable again is tough.”

Bae is not there yet, but he’s back out here playing — with full status on the PGA Tour this season on a “Family Crisis and Major Medical” exemption. And that’s the most important thing.

“Did I have doubts?” Bae said of his return. “Yeah, sure I had doubts.”

Asked what he missed most while he was away, Bae said: “Home. Family.”

He didn’t mention golf. He didn’t have to.