Sang-Moon Bae went from 5-star hotels and courtesy cars to army fatigues and a mess hall.
The budding South Korean star has a story that is not typically found on the modern PGA Tour. A two-time winner in America and ranked as high as 26th in the world, Bae was forced to return to his home country at the age of 29 — in his golfing prime — to serve a mandatory two-year stint in the nation’s military.
ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski traveled to meet with Bae at his post in South Korea prior to the 2016 Masters, a tournament he was invited to play in, but couldn’t.
For comparison’s sake, Bae made over $2 million on Tour in 2015. He’ll make less than $2,000 per year during his enlistment.
[ESPN]
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