ADELAIDA, Australia – In a stunning return to competitive golf, Anthony Kim secured his first victory in nearly 16 years on Sunday at the LIV Golf Adelaide event. Kim completed an incredible comeback, carding a final-round 63 – nine under par – to finish with a total score of 265.
Starting the final round five strokes behind leaders Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, Kim’s performance included nine birdies over the course of the day. His four-day total of 67-67-68-63 included 24 birdies, one eagle, and three bogeys.
Kim’s electrifying performance was marked by visible emotion, including fist pumps and exuberant reactions, captivating the largest and most vocal crowd of the season on the LIV tour.
“I’m too classic to be reacting like that, because I feel I hurt something in my hip,” joked the 40-year-old Kim. “But I will say that was for all the dark moments I’ve been through in my life and had to get out of. With every putt that went in, I felt the struggle and getting through it. It was therapeutic being out there, fighting through that and finishing on top.”
Kim’s return to golf comes after a 12-year absence, marked by a well-documented struggle with addiction to drugs and alcohol. He has openly discussed contemplating suicide for at least 15 years, and reports surfaced detailing drug use even during play at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
The victory was made even more special as Kim was embraced by his four-year-old daughter, Bella, who ran onto the 18th green at The Grange Golf Club. “To be able to share this moment – even though Bella doesn’t understand it, she will someday – and for her to be able to run onto the green and see that her dad isn’t a loser was one of the most special moments of my life,” he said.
LIV Golf took a chance on Kim in 2024, even as he was still working to regain his form. He struggled initially, often finishing near the bottom of the leaderboard, but showed steady improvement throughout the season, adhering to his mantra of becoming “1% better each day.”
Kim qualified for the LIV Tour after tying for fifth at the Saudi International and then competing in a qualifying tournament. A recent boost came when Dustin Johnson added Kim to his team, 4 Aces, following Patrick Reed’s departure from the league.
Kim’s three-stroke victory over Rahm is a significant moment for the LIV tour, which has recently seen high-profile players Brooks Koepka and Reed leave the league. Rahm finished with a 71 for a total of 268, while DeChambeau carded a 74, finishing at 271.
“I know the general media isn’t going to mention it,” Kim stated, acknowledging the timing of his win amidst the Winter Olympics, Daytona 500, and NBA All-Star Game. “But for the people who do find out, I want to be a good example.” “I wasn’t the best person, the best partner, the best son I could be when I was younger. But who I am today is a completely different person. With God, my family, and my sobriety as key things in my life, I can go as far as I want.”
Wearing black shorts, black socks, and white shoes, Kim captivated the large crowd at The Grange, pulling ahead of Rahm after nine holes and maintaining his lead through the final stretch.
This represents Kim’s first victory since the 2010 Houston Open, his third and final PGA Tour win. He earned $4 million for the victory, a significant increase from the just over $4.6 million he earned in his best PGA Tour season.
Kim reached a career-high world ranking of 6th in 2008, the same year he represented the United States in the Ryder Cup. He is now poised to climb back into the top 200 as LIV Golf events award world ranking points.
The win marks a remarkable chapter in Kim’s story, one that began with immense promise and was derailed by personal struggles. In 2023, The New York Times published a feature on the “Kim mystery.” In June 2012, he underwent Achilles tendon surgery, which marked the beginning of his public disappearance. Two years later, reports indicated he had stopped playing golf altogether.
“Kim was supposed to be the next Tiger Woods. In fact, he became the J.D. Salinger of the sports world. Sports Illustrated called him ‘the yeti of golf.’ Photos and stories hinting at his whereabouts regularly go viral on social media. Last summer, when the new LIV Golf circuit began recruiting players with huge guaranteed sums of money, many people’s minds turned to the same question: Could Kim, just 37 years old, return to play?”
After a prolonged absence, Kim’s victory in Adelaide represents far more than a tournament win. The embrace with his daughter Bella encapsulates a sense of renewal and the feeling that the storm has finally passed for Anthony Kim. “I’m going to tell Bella that before she came into this world, I didn’t have a purpose in my life. Even if you have a lot of money or a lot of success, you can still feel alone and feel like the world is against you, and that’s in your mind because I had a lot of people supporting me. Obviously, you saw how many people were supporting me. But I just want her to know that no matter how lousy your day is, if you keep fighting, you’ll never lose. I hope she carries that with her for the rest of her life.”
With information from AP and @flushintitgolf
