PGA Tour youngster Tom Kim finished in eighth place at the men's golf tournament of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, the best performance ever by a South Korean male golfer in Summer Games.Kim, a three-time PGA Tour winner, shot a three-under 68 in the final round at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, south of Paris, to finish at 13-under 271. He ended up four shots behind the bronze medal winner, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.Scottie Scheffler of the United States, one of Kim's playing partners on Sunday and his close friend, won the gold medal at 19-under, following a blistering, bogey-free round of nine-under 62. Scheffler, world No. 1, has six victories on the PGA Tour so far this year, including the Masters title from April.Tommy Fleetwood of Britain grabbed the bronze medal at 18-under after shooting a 66 on Sunday. Matsuyama shot a 65 for the bronze, holding off the Frenchman Victor Perez by one stroke.Kim hung around the medal contention after recording four birdies on the front nine. But a bogey on th e par-3 11th halted his momentum, and a double bogey on the final hole pushed him further down the leaderboard.The other South Korean player, An Byeong-hun, tied for 24th at six-under. He went one-over 72 in the final round.Kim was overcome with emotion afterward, and said he didn't think he could feel so overwhelmed after playing in his first Olympics.He insisted he wasn't crying because he was disappointed not to have won a medal. It was far more complicated than that."I started getting emotional from about the 17th hole," he said. "I had been stressed out preparing for the Olympics. And then some of the words that Scottie Scheffler told me really got to me, and tears just started flowing."Kim said he didn't want to divulge too much of his conversation with Scheffler because it was between himself and his friend. Kim did let on that Scheffler, who is seen as a big brother figure for Kim on the tour, is a good listener who understands what the South Korean has gone through, and gave him some words of encouragement at the end."This is the first time I've cried after a tournament," said Kim, who has competed at major championships and the President Cup. "Since we haven't had a male golf medalist, I thought this was a good opportunity for me. I felt I could help Korean golf by winning a medal here. And a lot of different emotions just came out after this event."Kim, who spent most of his childhood overseas, said he didn't have many opportunities to represent the country as an amateur."It's great to have these opportunities as a professional," Kim said. "This was my first Olympics, and I didn't think it would be such an emotional experience."Kim then referenced South Korean men's football captain Son Heung-min, who is known to get emotional after big international matches."I can now understand why Son Heung-min cries so often," Kim said with a smile.The women's tournament tees off Wednesday, with three South Korean LPGA players in the field: Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo and Yang Hee-young, who goe s by her English name, Amy, on the tour but is listed by her Korean given name at the Olympics.This will be the second Olympic Games for all three: Yang competed in 2016 and Ko and Kim were teammates in 2021.Source: Yonhap News Agency