Anthony Kim on Sunday on the 18th fairway at LIV Golf's Adelaide event.
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I was at Trump Doral in April 2024 when Anthony Kim played his first U.S. event in his return to professional golf. So not even two years ago. Millions of us remember his golf when he was at the height of his powers. He was brash, fresh, cocky, loaded with style, through the bag and off the course, too. This was in 2008, 2009, 2010. He was the anti-Tiger, for approach, but he was in Tiger’s orbit for pure talent. There was no sign of any of that, on the range at Doral at the LIV event there, for the two of us watching him. His timing was off, his divots were huge, his speed was gone. Once he looked like a trim, fast welterweight. You could barely remember that version of the man. He shot rounds of 76, 81 and 80. I interviewed him after his first round. You could see the years of drug abuse all over his face. His daughter was in his hands and his wife nearby — they were clearly the center of the world. Typing it up, sorrow washed over me. This comeback story was two parts stunt and one part desperation. That was my take.
This is one of the most astonishing comebacks golf has ever seen. After not playing for 12 years? After abusing (by his own candid accounting) his body and mind with a nearly lethal combination of drugs and alcohol?
Ben Hogan winning the 1950 U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff 16 months after a Greyhound bus all but flattened him is in a totally different category from Kim’s win. Hogan overcame a bad hand that somebody else had dealt him. Kim’s LIV victory has none of the grandeur of Tiger’s win at East Lake at the Tour Championship in 2018. Kim’s win is really a thing unto itself, because he was so far gone, and for so long. But what all three share is the very thing that makes us love golf and sport and really the challenge of life: We have the capacity to rise above our circumstances. We might get there or not, but we can die trying. We can die trying our best. Kim’s best happened to be good enough to beat two of the best golfers in the world. The win is what is getting our attention here, but it’s almost incidental.
When Kim’s future fell in on him, he had a wife and child and one unlikely path to reclaim some version, some new-and-improved version, of his former life, and that of course was the range, practice rounds and tournament rounds. He had to decide whether to stage his comeback on the PGA Tour, where nothing was promised, or the LIV Golf series, which offered a contract. He went LIV. Greg Norman, the LIV CEO, made the deal himself. In 2024, Kim finished 56th of 57 LIV players. Last year, he finished 55th on a list with 61 names on it. Who would have predicted this?
Well, Norman.
“From the moment we first met, to open our talks, I saw it in his eyes,” Norman said. “He said, `It will happen!’ I feel like a proud dad.
“I always knew if you could shine light on a path of belief, if there was trust and confidence, his God-given ability, drive and desire would spring to life. He had so much talent, but it was buried by poor decisions and directions. He was lost and he admitted it. He owned it. He wanted to change. He knew golf could give him the opportunity he needed to make that change.
“Then there’s his wife, Emily. She is his rock, there for him at all times, wrapping him with love and foundational support. His savior. And Bella, his daughter and inspiration, driving him on each day to show her the parent idol and patriarch he truly is. This is the greatest golf comeback in history! I’m just proud to be a small part of it.”
Rahm was part of it, too. It’s a measure of his own humanity that he said this in the aftermath of Kim’s win: “In a weird way, as a competitor, I probably shouldn’t say this, but that was a joy to watch. To see that image on 18 of him hugging his wife and daughter, any man with a soul is going to have a soft spot for that. I was almost tearing up.”
Yep. Millions of us would say the same thing.
When Keshad Johnson won the NBA All-Star dunk contest Saturday night, he had a message for the arena that Kim would know well.
“Everybody’s journey is different,” Johnson said. “To all the kids out there, keep dreaming. Have crazy faith. Crazy faith — not just regular faith. Anything can happen, man.”
Michael Bamberger writes for GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. Before that, he spent nearly 23 years as senior writer for Sports Illustrated. After college, he worked as a newspaper reporter, first for the (Martha’s) Vineyard Gazette, later for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has written a variety of books about golf and other subjects, the most recent of which is The Second Life of Tiger Woods. His magazine work has been featured in multiple editions of The Best American Sports Writing. He holds a U.S. patent on The E-Club, a utility golf club. In 2016, he was given the Donald Ross Award by the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the organization’s highest honor.
