Subscribe
Follow Us
Anthony Kim is in last place in the 54-player field at LIV Golf Jeddah after shooting a six-over-par 76 in his first professional golf round since his last PGA Tour appearance in 2012. Of course, rustiness and nerves are to be expected.
Kim began his round on Friday — at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia — with a bogey on the par-5 18th, despite landing the fairway on his first real tee shot in 12 years.
“It was a feeling I hadn’t felt before,” Kim said. “I was very excited to go get it done. Fairway looked very narrow, so to be able to hit the fairway was nice. Got off to a good start, and then made an unforced error with my second shot.”
Good slow motion look at Anthony Kim’s move during his first round. pic.twitter.com/3Cm2uHgSwU
— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) March 1, 2024
After a solid run of four pars, the man once unofficially tapped as Tiger Woods' successor as the face of golf followed replicated Tiger's relatable struggles at Riviera, in the form of a full-blown shank on the par-4 fifth (on the broadcast, LIV CEO Greg Norman blamed a drone humming in Kim's backswing.)
Ohhhhh boy. Anthony Kim shank! pic.twitter.com/FOZyRizsFS
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) March 1, 2024
Donning a white LIV cap and collared shirt, Kim bounced back to sink a 20-footer on the next hole, his lone birdie of the day. Not unlike an out-of-form Tiger at the Genesis Invitational, Kim's mechanics and feel were wayward across the board. He carded seven bogeys, though no doubles.
“I would be lying to say that I didn’t have certain expectations,” Kim acknowledged. “I thought I would shoot around par. It was unfortunate that I made so many unforced errors from the middle of the fairway. That’s generally my strength is my iron game.
“Obviously disappointed with the score, but I played much better than the score. I’ve got a lot to build on.”
LIV's two other high-profile recent coups, Jon Rahm and Adam Meronk, share the lead after posting 8-under 62s. Rahm's Legion XIII is leading the team competition.
Once upon a time, the charismatic Kim pocketed three PGA Tour wins, a Ryder Cup, and a Presidents Cup before the age of 25. His 11-birdies on Sunday at the 2011 Masters remains a single-round record. Then, in 2012, his career was derailed by injuries, personal struggles, and a complex relationship with golf and celebrity. He's lived in relative obscurity since.
Earlier this week, Kim announced he'd be joining LIV for the rest of the 2024 season on a Wild Card. He'll compete in the individual portion of the 10 remaining events, hoping to accrue enough points to join a team for 2025.
“I said to AK, ‘When you walk on the range, for the last 12 years you’ve been hitting balls with amateurs — all respect to amateurs — and it’s been like pop, pop, pop,'” said Norman. “‘Get on that driving range here and get in the middle and listen to [Dustin Johnson] hit, listen to Jon Rahm hit, listen to [Brooks Koepka] hit. The sound is different. And that sound is going to get you… That’ll ignite your senses again and get all those sensory overloads back into equilibrium.’”
The focus for LIV and Kim going forward shouldn't be on his ball striking or club-head speed. Rather, all eyes will be on how his reemergence is carried out and presented. For the first time, the Saudi-backed enterprise has the opportunity to tell a truly compelling, feel-good sports story. Can Kim and LIV effectively galvanize support and enthusiasm for his comeback? Or will he just collect guaranteed checks to shank it around and moderately juice meager CW streaming figures? If it's the latter, Kim will fade back into obscurity, in another deflating illustration of the humdrum, low-stakes nature of the LIV model.
Kim will complete stateside in Miami next month — one week before the Masters.
