Two years ago, when Anthony Kim decided to return to public life and public golf, there were two guarantees: (1) He would get some starts no matter how he played, and (2) People would be watching (at least at first) and commenting.
Nothing was promised about the form of his game as he approached his 40s. Little was revealed about the shape of his body or the injuries he suffered during his absence. The golfing world had to wake up – and get up early – for its first start in Saudi Arabia, and watch out for itself. The results weren’t great.
But given the context that would ultimately unfold—how Kim had battled drug and alcohol addiction—the results didn’t seem to matter much at first. Progress was important. Until those guaranteed starts ran out, about five months ago.
Fast forward to last weekend and the first really consistent start to Kim’s second golf career. It was the first Q-school-style event Kim has attended since his return. The first time he started a calendar year unaware of how much pro golf he had in his immediate future. But at the LIV Promotions event, which concluded on Sunday, Kim outlasted a field of 78 to finish solo third in a tournament where the top-3 finishers recorded a season’s worth of LIV starts.
If you’re not up to date on Kim’s journey, you can dive in here. What we want to discuss here is: what should we think? How impressive was this result? And what does it mean for his 2026?
Kim is now 40-on-41. Time is not on his side to compete with the Jon Rahms of the world at LIV Golf. Since Kim’s return, he has made 34 starts and shown that driving is a weakness, just as it was to some extent when he was a PGA Tour winner. Kim also lacks the pop of his peer – his average driving distance of 293.5 meters in 2025 ranked 50th out of 54 LIV players – which is the fastest way to fall behind in modern professional golf.
However, he chips at a high level, around the PGA Tour average. He also putsts well, just slightly below the PGA Tour average, according to DataGolf. Also impressive! But to be a sustainable, high-performing modern golfer, hitting the ball is everything. That is the basis that must exist. You see it with many pros, who can only win when their putter gets hot.
Essentially, that’s what Kim has been. He has fluttered around the bottom of the LIV Golf rankings, occasionally finding himself in the likes of T29 when he has been doing great for three days.
But then there’s his recent form. Without overload at is difficult, it is clear that there is some legitimate progress. While playing in a handful of four-round events in Asia this fall, Kim missed just one cut and raised his level. His worst rounds meant he wasn’t pulled out of tournaments like he used to, all leading him to the PIF Saudi International in November – with many of LIV’s best players – where he finished in fifth place. It was the first time he had competed seriously in a tournament, and it seemed like the first time he was really angry about a sub-par score (70, in the final round).
That start was easy to miss — an offseason event in the Middle East — but it’s more relevant now that Kim was behind it a month and a half later. With three more rounds of data from the LIV Promotions event, Kim has now recorded positive strokes in consecutive tournaments for the first time since his return. These numbers are also “True Strokes Gained” per DataGolf, which have been adjusted to reflect field strength. In other words, Kim’s performance would have done well anywhere in the world, which is important considering the caliber of players in LIV Promotions.
The event promises a season of LIV starts – likely as ‘wild cards’ in the competition – for the top three finishers. It was played amid threats of bans by the PGA Tour, which led to at least one first-time entrant dropping out. It was filled with many players that golf fans are probably unfamiliar with, or haven’t heard from in a while.
Overall, the field strength was probably closer to that of a PGA Tour Americas tournament than that of a Korn Ferry Tour event. Yet they are professional golfers, some of whom have played LIV events, some of whom have competed in major championships. That Kim knew what he had to do to qualify, and do itis impressive. It was the first time his current self truly deserved something his past self hadn’t made possible. And as with any Q-school type environment, moving forward Kim had already thought about what might happen next.
“This is just the first step,” he said, clearly hoping to get a message across. “But I’m glad I earned my spot so everyone can stop talking, and I’ll be back soon and I’ll be winning golf tournaments soon.”
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