Hypocrisy of golf is exposed again by Kim’s ban
Korean’s career is under threat over obscene gesture but the millions keep on rolling in for Garcia, writes James Corrigan
This is modern golf, where the punishment does not fit the crime but the profile
If you want to gauge how brazen professional golf ’s double standards happen to be then consider that Bio Kim is banned from playing in Korea’s biggest event this month because of his on-course behaviour in 2019 – and Sergio Garcia is not.
One of them dared to raise his middle finger in a moment of anger, while the other damaged the surfaces of greens in 90 minutes of fury in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and, just a few months later, threw a driver at his caddie.
One boasted a previously clean record, while the other had been reprimanded for multiple tantrums, as well as an occasion of racism.
One has been suspended for three years and now sees his entire career in jeopardy, while the other has never been suspended for as much as a day and has watched the millions roll in regardless.
One will miss the CJ Cup in two weeks’ time, while the other will be there to carry on filling his wheelbarrow with greenbacks. This is modern golf for you, where the punishment does not so much fit the crime as much as it fits the profile and earning potential.
Of course, some will claim that those shocked by the verdict and the severity of the subsequent punishment of Kim do not appreciate Korean culture or understand the ghastliness of his single-digit reaction towards the dolt who took a picture during Kim’s backswing, causing him to hit a driver 100 yards.
Fair enough, it is Korea’s tour. Its rules apply.
Except it does not end there, because golf is a global game and for Kim the draconian sanction will travel first to Jeju Island and then, he fears, across the world.
Kim, 29, is out of the CJ Cup and that in itself is a crying shame because it is a PGA Tour event, not a Korean Tour tournament.
Never mind the fact that world No 1 Brooks Koepka is teeing it up – along with Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and, yes, Garcia – there is a purse of nearly £8 million, compared to the largest Korean Tour purse of £1.1 million, and also the prospect of a golden ticket to the PGA Tour.
Kim had been chasing it all year and when he won Sunday’s Daegu Gyeongbuk Open – in spite of that ignorant fan – it seemed he had succeeded by hurtling to the top of the Korean Tour’s money list just before the CJ Cup cut-off point yesterday.
Yet then came the “unanimous judgment” from Seoul – and then followed the PGA Tour’s cop out.
Sawgrass HQ confirmed to The Daily Telegraph yesterday that as overnight the Korean authorities had scrubbed Kim from their order of merit, he was not qualified for one of the three places on offer. Anyway, that did not matter as the PGA Tour had already decided itself to suspend Kim in the short-term.
“The PGA Tour will conduct its own review of the incident,” a statement said. “In the interim, Bio is ineligible from Tour-sanctioned events.”
What is there to review? Ian Poulter raised his middle finger to hecklers in America a few years ago, as did David Toms. Quite rightly, neither received a ban.
So why is Kim being excluded from a PGA Tour event for which he, too, qualified by right? Just so US officials can appease the host country? And to hell with sporting integrity?
If the Koreans do not reverse their daft decision, we can only pray that in the weeks and months ahead, the PGA and European Tours will grant Kim the right to try to make his living. Otherwise, golf ’s hypocrisy will appear to be as shameless as ever.