Anthony Kim was LIV Golf's 'circus act' signing - but not any more

He was the cocky kid who burst onto the scene in the 2008 Ryder Cup in Kentucky before disappearing for 12 years as he faced drug, alcohol and mental-health struggles. Now the entire golfing world - and maybe the sporting world as well - is talking about Anthony Kim again. He might even be the player who can lead to proper progress being made in stuttering talks between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Make no mistake, Kim’s weekend win in LIV Golf’s event in Adelaide was an incredible story. The fact he closed with a scintillating 63 at Grange Golf Club to come from five shots behind at the start of the day and jump ahead of both Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to win by three strokes was praiseworthy on its own. Add in everything else, though, and it really is a sporting fairytale.

Eyebrows were raised when Kim, having seriously gone off the rails, returned to golf in 2024 after being offered a wildcard by Greg Norman to play on the LIV Golf circuit. It was viewed by many as the golfing equivalent of a circus act and, in truth, the American did little to prove otherwise.

Anthony Kim celebrates winning the LIV Golf Adelaide tournament with his wife Emily and daughter Bella | Brenton Edwards / AFP via Getty Images

In two years, he finished in the top 40 only three times and never recorded a top-20 finish. He then lost his LIV Golf status at the end of last year. It could have been game over, but the man who always had talent in abundance also seems to be made of sterner stuff these days. Kim secured one of three spots up for grabs in a LIV Golf Promotions event last month to be back sitting at the breakaway circuit’s table for the start of the season and now he’s the talk of the steamie.

“I’m so happy for him. He’s worked hard,” said Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open champion and, as a member of Rippers GC, one of the players beaten by Kim in LIV Golf’s second event of the new campaign on Sunday. “I actually played with Anthony his first round back in Saudi a few years ago, and it was scrappy to say the least. And I was sceptical at the start. But what he’s been able to do over the past couple of seasons and dig deep and grind out and then do what he did today is pretty special.”

Why credit must go to Greg Norman

Though no longer involved with the Saudi-backed circuit, credit must go to Norman, who spotted an opportunity to effectively put one over on the PGA Tour, even though it had been the 2010 Shell Houston Open when Kim had last tasted victory and, unlike DeChambeau, for example, he didn’t really resonate with young golf fans in particular.

“I am like a proud dad who always knew if you could shine light on a path of belief through trust and confidence, his god-given ability and the drive and desire within would spring to life,” Norman told bunkered.co.uk. “He had so much talent but it was buried by poor decisions and directions. He was lost and admitted it. But he owned it and wanted to change with the force for good. And golf could give him the opportunity needed to make that change.”

Kim isn’t your typical professional golfer. His arms are covered in tattoos and he sports a ponytail. As this correspondent can testify through being at Valhalla, he was so full of himself in that Ryder Cup 18 years ago and, in fairness, he had reason to be bouncing about like a kangaroo on the final day after dishing out a hammering to Sergio Garcia in the top singles match as the Americans triumphed by five points in Louisville.

He reached a career-high sixth in the world rankings and, based on golf like his 65 that contained 11 birdies in the 2009 Masters, you’ve got to think he’d have been a multiple winner long ago if things hadn’t taken a bad turn for him. Years of addiction issues, coupled with dire health problems, took their toll. “It means a lot to me,” he said of coming through that LIV Promotions event, “because, three years ago, doctors had told me that I potentially had two weeks to live.”

Anthony Kim shows what it means to become a winner again after coming from five shots behind in the final round at Grange Golf Club on Sunday | LIV Golf

The 40-year-old also spoke then about how he felt he could be “holding a trophy soon” and, lo and behold, in his first outing as a new member of the 4Aces and also after having visa issues getting into Australia, that has indeed proved to be the case. To put it into perspective, Kim’s victory was the front-page headline of this week’s Global Golf Post over Collin Morikawa winning the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am or the popular Charley Hull landing the LET’s PIF Saudi Ladies International.

It’s no surprise, of course, that everyone connected with LIV Golf - team captains and the circuit’s TV commentators in particular - are cock-a-hoop about Kim returning to winning ways because it could possibly be the best story in golf this year and, out of nowhere really, could well see it some much-needed traction, especially in the US.

SSG must see golden opportunity

Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour’s CEO, definitely scored a win when Brooks Koepka ended his LIV Golf stint to return to the US circuit recently, but you’ve got to think that Strategic Sports Group, the consortium of American-based professional sports team owners which is investing huge sums of money in the PGA Tour, will now be looking at Kim and seeing a golden opportunity to come up with something that could generate TV ratings that would be off the charts.

Alternatively, of course, LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Scott O’Neil, the circuit’s CEO, finally have something to properly shout about, so who really knows how or when it will all unravel.

In the meantime, let’s all doff our caps to Anthony Kim and let him enjoy a marvellous moment, one made even more special by the fact his wife Emily and daughter Bella were there to celebrate with him.