Anthony Kim walked out of a PGA Tour scoring trailer at Quail Hollow and straight to the parking lot on May 4, 2012. He put his clubs in the trunk and drove away, vanishing from golf and from public view for 12 years.
Kim was all the way back Sunday in Australia, full of swagger and energy, as he capped off a stunning rally — not just in the final round of LIV Golf Adelaide, but in life. Five shots behind Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, he closed with a 9-under 63 for his first win in nearly 16 years.
[LIV Golf Adelaide: Notes And Quotes From Anthony Kim’s Epic Comeback]
He placed on an electrical present with leg-kicking, fist-throwing reactions for his 4 straight birdies earlier than LIV‘s largest and loudest gallery of the season.
“I am too previous to be reacting like that as a result of I feel I pulled one thing in my hip,” the 40-year-old Kim stated to laughter. “However I’ll say that was all of the lows I went by way of in my life that I bought to dig out of. Each putt that went I felt the battle, and I used to be overcoming it. It was therapeutic on the market to struggle by way of it and are available out on prime.”
These struggles embody drug and alcohol dependancy so extreme Kim considers it a minor miracle he’s nonetheless alive. He’s married with a 4-year-old daughter, Bella, who raced onto the 18th inexperienced at The Grange Golf Membership and into his arms.
“To have the ability to share this second — although Bella gained’t perceive it, in the future she is going to — and for her to have the ability to run on the inexperienced and see her dad isn’t a loser was one of the vital particular moments of my life,” Kim stated.
Golf icon Tiger Woods praised Kim’s win whereas talking with reporters forward of The Genesis Invitational.
“To see him battle in life … and for him to return all the best way again and for him to win and to be as devoted as he’s to his household, it is a story by which you simply should wrap your coronary heart round it,” Woods stated. “All of us battle in life … however for him to struggle by way of it and for Anthony to get to the place he has gotten to from the low that he need in is one thing that, as I stated, it’s important to simply wrap your coronary heart round it.”
LIV Golf took an opportunity on Kim in 2024 when he performed as a wild card, usually ending on the backside of the small fields. Final season wasn’t a lot better, although he confirmed indicators of progress — 1% higher every day is his motto — late final season.
He was relegated out of the Saudi-funded league. He tied for fifth within the Saudi Worldwide. He needed to play a qualifying match final month simply to get one other season on the LIV Tour. Maybe the ultimate enhance of confidence: Dustin Johnson signed Kim to his 4 Aces crew when Patrick Reed determined to depart the league.
The three-shot victory over Rahm was as massive as any second on LIV, at a time when the league misplaced two of its larger names in Brooks Koepka and Reed. All that mattered to Kim was coming full circle.
Taking part in in black shorts — with black calf-length socks and white sneakers — in entrance of a big crowd on a sunny day at The Grange, Kim caught as much as Rahm after 9 holes and pulled away. 1000’s of spectators adopted behind him within the 18th fairway when he capped off his wonderful day.
It was his first victory for the reason that 2010 Houston Open, the final of his three titles on the PGA Tour. He had not completed greater than a tie for twenty second on LIV, last week in Saudi Arabia. He gained $4 million — he made simply over $4.6 million in his finest season on the PGA Tour.
Rahm closed with a 71 and DeChambeau shot 74 on a day when the typical rating was 69.8.
Kim reached as excessive as No. 6 on this planet in 2008, the yr he performed in his solely Ryder Cup at Valhalla and wanted solely 14 holes to beat Sergio Garcia in singles.
He strikes to only exterior the highest 200 now that LIV will get world rating factors.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
