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It was safe to assume Anthony Kim was going to need some time to shake the rust off after deciding to mount a comeback with LIV Golf, and he’s very aware he’s got plenty of work to do after a disappointing showing in his grand return.
It’s been close to 12 years since Anthony Kim participated in his final tournament during his time on the PGA Tour, the circuit where he’d staged a meteoric rise before announcing his career was coming to a fairly shocking end after he cashed in a $10 million insurance policy following a string of injuries.
That payout was accompanied by a very notable clause that stated Kim would have to forfeit the money if he attempted to revive his professional golf career, and it seemed safe to assume he’d firmly moved on from that chapter in his life due to reports that suggested he wasn’t even that interested in playing the game recreationally.
However, we were treated to a somewhat surprising development last month when LIV Golf announced they’d signed Kim to a deal and revealed he’d be a member of the field when the organization headed to Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last week.
Kim got off to a rough start after finishing dead last in an opening round that was defined by the brutal shank he hit on the front nine. Things didn’t really improve over the course of his next 36 holes, as he went +6 for the second day in a row before going +4 to finish at +16 to firmly finish at the bottom of the leaderboard (11 strokes behind Hudson Swafford, who had the second-worst performance of the long weekend at +5).
The 38-year-old pro admitted the obvious while nonetheless remaining optimistic following the conclusion of the final round of his LIV Golf debut, saying:
“I’m more encouraged after playing this tournament and playing like a–, really. I’m very encouraged. I’m excited about what’s coming. My game is starting to shape up. I’m doing things that I used to do before…
I’m definitely hitting the ball well. I’m doing a lot of things well. I know the scores don’t reflect that. It’s disappointing to score that way.”
Kim will get the chance to show he’s making progress when LIV Golf heads to Hong Kong this week.