I was at Trump Doral in April 2024 when Anthony Kim played his first US event in his return to professional golf. So even two years ago. Millions of us remember his golf when he was at the height of his powers. He was brash, fresh, opinionated, brimming with style, through the bag and off the court. This was 2008, 2009, 2010. He was the anti-Tiger in approach, but he was in Tiger’s orbit because of sheer talent. There was none of that at the shooting range at Doral during the LIV event there, for the two of us watching. His timing was off, his divots were huge, his speed was gone. He once looked like a lean, 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. As I typed it, sadness washed over me. This comeback story was two parts stunt and one part desperation. That was my opinion.
I couldn’t even imagine this victory that Anthony Kim had just achieved at the 72-hole LIV event in Australia, playing with…Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
This is one of the most amazing comebacks golf has ever seen. After not playing for 12 years? After (according to his own candid account) abusing his body and mind with a near-lethal combination of drugs and alcohol?
Ben Hogan winning the 1950 US Open in an 18-hole play-off, 16 months after a Greyhound bus nearly flattened him, is in a completely different category than Kim’s victory. Hogan overcame a bad hand dealt to him by someone else. Kim’s LIV win has none of the grandeur of Tiger’s victory at East Lake at the Tour Championship in 2018. Kim’s win is truly something of its own because it was so far away, and for so long. But what all three have in common is the very thing that makes us love golf and sport, and truly the challenge of life: we have the ability to rise above our circumstances. We may or may not get there, but we may die trying. We can die if we do our best. Kim’s best just happened to be good enough to beat two of the best golfers in the world. The victory is what catches our attention here, but it’s almost incidental.
When Kim’s future dawned on him, he had a wife and a child and one unlikely path to reclaiming some version, a new and improved version, of his past life, and that was of course the distance, practice rounds and tournament rounds. He had to decide whether to make his comeback on the PGA Tour, where nothing was promised, or on the LIV Golf Series, which offered a contract. He went LIV. LIV CEO Greg Norman closed the deal himself. In 2024, Kim finished 56th out of 57 LIV players. Last year he finished 55th on a list with 61 names on it. Who would have predicted this?
Well, Normandy.
“From the moment we first met, to open our conversations, I saw it in his eyes,” Norman said. “He said, ‘It will happen!’ I feel like a proud father.
“I always knew that if you could shine light on a path of faith, if there was trust, his God-given ability, drive and desire would come to life. He had so much talent, but it was buried by bad 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, always there for him and enveloping him with love and fundamental support. His savior. And Bella, his daughter and inspiration, drives him every day to show her the parent idol and patriarch that he really is. This is the greatest golf comeback in history! I’m just proud to be a small part of it.”
Anthony Kim’s Impossible LIV Win: How Did It Happen – and What Does It Mean?
By means of:
James Colgan, Sean Zak, Dylan Dethier
Rahm was part of it too. It’s a mark of his own humanity that he said this in the aftermath of Kim’s victory: “In a weird way, I probably shouldn’t say this as a competitor, but it was a joy to watch. To see that image of him hugging his wife and daughter, any man with a soul would have a soft spot for that. It almost brought me to tears.”
Yes. Millions of us would say the same.
When Keshad Johnson won the NBA All-Star dunk contest on Saturday night, he had a message for the arena that Kim would know all too well.
“Everyone’s journey is different,” Johnson said. “To all the kids out there, keep dreaming. Have a crazy faith. A crazy faith – not just a regular faith. Anything can happen, man.”
Anything can happen, dude!
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
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