Four weeks ago, on his way to Palm Springs for the American Express, Adam Schriber stopped in his RV in Oklahoma City to visit an old friend, who told him a secret.
“It’s going to happen,” Anthony Kim told him, according to Schriber. “My best wave is ahead of me. Just look, it’s good. It just takes some time to get my confidence back.”
Fast forward to Sunday in Australia, and It happened.
Schriber watched from more than 7,000 miles away Saturday evening as he lounged in his RV on the Monterey Peninsula, where the golf instructor is on site for this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He streamed the action and received constant text updates from his son. Across the world at LIV Golf Adelaide, his former student put the finishing touches on an epic final-round comeback to put an exclamation point on a remarkable redemption story, one that many people never thought would come – except Kim and those close to him.
Kim fired a nine-under 63 to finish 23 under overall, beating big stalwarts Jon Rahm (20 under) and Bryson DeChambeau (17 under), who were tied on the final day.
“I know I can make a lot of birdies,” Kim said. “I know my confidence is second to none. Obviously, taking 12.5 years off from the game is a long time, and you have to build that confidence back up. So I think since I was 20, I was never afraid to play against anyone. I’m not afraid to play against anyone now. I know this is just one golf tournament, but I believe in myself. That will never change.”
Schriber taught Kim from his days as a promising 14-year-old junior until he retired from the game. Although Kim is now officially with Matt Killen, he still keeps in touch with Schriber; they consider each other family. They talk or text often, and much of what Kim is processing on the course now are concepts he’s been working on with Schriber, whose current pros include reigning US Open champion JJ Spaun and Denny McCarthy.
“He’s just a phenomenal athlete who didn’t pursue golf because it suited him, and we’re happy to have him in the sport,” Schriber said Sunday from the Pacific Coast Highway en route from Pebble Beach to next week’s stop at Riviera in Los Angeles. “He’s a special talent, man. I’ve been around him a lot and he has all the tools, but most of all he gave himself permission to fail.”
Kim had a good story when he returned to professional golf in 2024 after more than a decade, but he didn’t have the immediate success that made him a star years earlier. Now 40 and playing as an LIV wildcard, he was relegated after the 2025 season but regained a spot when finishing third at the LIV Promotions event in January, where 2026 season memberships were handed out to the top three. When Patrick Reed left LIV weeks before the season opener, Kim took his place on the 4Aces.
Kim didn’t make a bogey and was four under on the turn, just one behind Rahm. DeChambeau made four bogeys on the front nine and was left behind.
Kim birdied 12 to tie Rahm and got hot from there – making three more to reel off four in a row and take a commanding lead. He added his final birdie on 17 and had a stress-free 18th hole as he completed a three-stroke victory.
“Bryson and Jon have proven themselves as major championship winners, Ryder Cup players, and have played consistently well for a long time, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for them,” Kim said. “I knew it was going to be a tough battle today, and I got putts going my way.”
Before his return in 2024, Kim’s last start as a 26-year-old was at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship (and his last win was the 2010 Shell Houston Open).
Schriber says he always thought Kim could win again, it just depended on how bad Kim wanted it. As Schriber says, he just had to commit and get sharp.
Schriber belongs to a small group of people in Kim’s close circle, a group that also took some satisfaction from Kim’s victory on Sunday. Their relationship is about more than just golf. Schriber still remembers going through a difficult divorce more than twenty years ago. Kim called him every day to check in.
“My friends would forget what I was going through, but this 15-year-old kid was watching me all the time. That’s special, man,” Schriber says. “We’ve always been there for each other when that guy is in trouble. And that’s how you know who your real friends are. Everyone is there when things are going well, but only the real people are there for you when things get busy. We have that in common.”
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