Sang-Moon Bae is scheduled to tee off Thursday afternoon as part of first-round action at the Canadian Open.
But a court ruling Wednesday in South Korea eventually will force the two-time winner off the PGA Tour and into a mandated two-year military service in his native country.
"I am sorry to those who have supported me, including all my fans and South Koreans, for causing anxiety," Bae told the Yonhap News Agency. "I completely respect the court's decision, and I humbly accept the judgment by the law."
The news does not come as a complete surprise for Bae.
South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 years must complete two years of military service because the country technically remains at war with North Korea.
The 29-year-old Bae was charged in February with violating that rule by not securing an extension that permits overseas travel. A United States resident since 2013, Bae challenged that decision in court, saying he didn't qualify as an overseas resident because he hadn't spent enough time outside of South Korea in 2014.
On Wednesday, a court in Bae's home city of Daegu sided with the Military Manpower Administration of South Korea, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
Bae said he will continue playing for the time being.
"My plan is to play as much as I can the rest of this season -- the PGA Tour and into the FedEx Cup playoffs -- before reporting for my military duty in South Korea,'' Bae said from the Canadian Open on Wednesday.
Bae has played in 22 PGA Tour events this season, winning the season-opening Frys.com Open, landing four top-10s and finishing tied for 33rd at the Masters. He is 29th in the FedEx Cup points rankings. At 23rd in the Presidents Cup standings, he had an outside chance of making the international roster when that event is played in South Korea in October.
According to Reuters, Bae will earn about $130 per month in the South Korean military. For his PGA Tour career, he has earned $5,683,241, more than $2 million of which has come this season.
Bae's PGA Tour exemption is through 2017. Earlier this year, the PGA Tour board preliminary approved an amendment to tournament regulations, so that "mandatary obligation'' is considered with its provision on major medical issues and a family crisis. The board is scheduled to ratify the amendment at its meeting next week.
"This provision in the tournament regulations would give the commissioner discretion to grant an eligibility extension for a 'mandatory obligation' including but not limited to military service or religious obligation," the tour said in a statement, according to the Golf Channel, "allowing the player to return to competition with the same eligibility as if he were under a major medical/family crisis extension."
Bae is one of the highest-ranked golfers from South Korea, which also boasts K.J. Choi (who has eight PGA Tour wins) and Y.E. Yang (the only South Korean to win a men's major title).
Choi didn't turn professional until after his military service.
"When you are at your prime age, you have to go in the army,'' Choi, now 44, told ESPN.com in February. "So that takes a lot out of you.''
Information from ESPN.com's Bob Harig and The Associated Press was used in this report.