Anthony Kim has arguably had one of the strangest careers of any elite golfer having spent almost 12 years completely out of the game during what should have perhaps been his best years.
Anthony Kim looked to be destined for superstardom. He secured a third PGA Tour win before the age of 25, while he was a star of the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla. However, he has not played in a single PGA Tour event since 2012.
With Kim disappearing from the spotlight altogether, the 39-year-old became something of a cult hero for golf fans, with many desperate just to know whatever happened to him.
There were plenty of rumours about why he was no longer playing golf, as well as speculation that he may be considering a return to the game. However, most of the rumours came to absolutely nothing.
Anthony Kim explains how ‘insane’ rumour led to LIV Golf move
That changed following the arrival of LIV Golf. Obviously, LIV became known for the eye-watering fees they were reportedly paying the players who signed for them. And in 2024, it was announced that Kim was indeed joining the league as a wildcard.
But it seems that some of the rumours surprised Kim as much as anyone else. Speaking to Rick Shiels, the former world number six explained how one of the incorrect claims did actually help pave the way for his comeback.
“It definitely wasn’t something I thought was even possible. I had heard there was some interest in me coming back to golf. But then they had heard how far removed I was from the game, and I figured there’s zero chance. Nor did I even want to play golf, because the last memories I have of playing golf are not fun. It was injury, struggle, addiction, depression, mental illness. So golf wasn’t something that I remembered and I was like, ‘yeah, let’s go do this’,” he said.
“It wasn’t on my radar. But once I started, once I got sober for a few months and realised that both tours wanted me to play, I started taking it a little more seriously. The funny thing is it really got started, the conversation got started because some random guy posted on his Twitter – and I didn’t even have Twitter, somebody sent me a picture of the tweet – saying LIV signs me for a ridiculous amount of money, which I wish they did. I was like, that’s news to me, I must have been deeper in addiction than I thought.
“But then the rumours started, and then I got a call from some guys from the PGA Tour and they said, ‘is this true? Did you already sign?’ And at the time I was like, I don’t even have golf clubs and people are asking me if I just signed for $100 million. It was so insane that it all started from a social media rumour. I have no idea who this guy is, but I owe him dinner.”
How Anthony Kim has performed since signing with LIV Golf
Whatever you think of LIV, it was hard not to be intrigued about how Kim would fare upon his return to the game at LIV Golf Jeddah. And unsurprisingly, there was some real rust on show in Saudi Arabia.
Kim would not score a single point in 2024, with his best result being a 36th place finish at Greenbrier towards the end of the season. But he did not finish outside the top 50 in his last six events of the year.
In many ways, it has been unbelievably impressive for Kim to show signs of being competitive after such a long time away from the game, particularly when you consider some of the demons he has overcome. However, it remains to be seen just how long Kim will remain on LIV.
Ultimately, the novelty of Kim playing professional golf again probably wore off for many as the season went on. And if he cannot get to a stage where he is picking up some points, then perhaps LIV will have to reassess what role he plays in the league.
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