In a story almost too cinematic to believe, Anthony Kim, once golf’s most enigmatic talent and long-vanished figure, has officially reclaimed his place among the game’s elite, and not quietly. After a staggering 12-year disappearance from professional golf, Kim’s 2024 comeback with LIV Golf ended in disappointment, with 13 starts and zero points, a brutal stat line for someone once heralded as the sport’s next great American hope. But rather than retreat into obscurity again, Kim did what few expected: he doubled down.
A Comeback Forged Under Pressure
This weekend, Anthony Kim clawed his way back into the LIV Golf League via the Promotions event, a grueling test of endurance and composure. Exempted into the second round, he caught fire in round three with a 66, then sealed the deal on Sunday with a 69, good enough for the third and final spot up for grabs. It wasn’t dominance. It was survival. And it was enough.
From Zero Points to a Point to Prove
The win wasn’t just a career checkpoint; it was a full-throated clapback to the legion of critics who dismissed his return as a cash grab or a sideshow. Speaking to the media after punching his ticket back to LIV, Kim delivered a scorched-earth message to his detractors: “I’m glad I earned my spot so everybody could quit talking sh-t… To all the people who don’t feel I belong, they can suck it now.”
It was classic Kim, blunt, brash, and unapologetically real. The fire that made him a Ryder Cup hero in 2008 and a Presidents Cup asset in 2009 clearly still burns, even after multiple surgeries and an insurance saga that kept him sidelined for over a decade.
Kim’s Return Is More Than Just Sentiment
Though his initial return to LIV was lackluster, the grit he showed this week suggests there’s more in the tank. Kim didn’t coast in on reputation; he earned it shot by shot, round by round. Whether or not he wins again remains to be seen. But in a sport that thrives on narrative, there may be no better story right now than the return of Anthony Kim, driven not just by talent, but by the doubters who wrote him off too soon.
