Anthony Kim expected to play LIV Golf event after 12 years away from the game

The great golf prodigy turned mysterious recluse returns to the sport. Anthony Kim is expected to return to professional golf for the first time in 12 years and play the LIV Golf event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this week as a wild card.

LIV commissioner Greg Norman mocked Kim’s return on a video on social media on Monday, and Kim’s presence on the practice field did not go unnoticed on Tuesday. Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal took a pic of a sign with Kim’s name, and then YouTube Golfer Andy Carter posted a video of Kim’s shooting session on Instagram.

Kim, now 38, was once one of golf’s biggest rising stars, winning two PGA Tour events and being part of a Ryder Cup team as a 23-year-old behind exciting talent and a big personality. that reached sectors of golf fans that often had a hard time reaching before. Injuries then led Kim to walk away from professional golf at age 26 and never return.

Since then, Kim has become a cult figure, partly because he was a very popular player with enormous potential, but also because of the mystery that has shrouded his absence. During his playing days, Kim was known as a person who had a complicated relationship with how much he loved golf. So when his injuries led him away and reports surfaced that he was living off an insurance policy worth between $10 and $20 million, it only meant greater fascination over whether he really couldn’t play anymore.

So when Golf.com reported in January that Kim was considering a return and was in negotiations with both the PGA Tour and LIV, the intrigue only escalated. Now, Kim is finally back and playing with LIV, a league backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that can probably afford to give Kim a signing bonus to help with the insurance policy, plus huge event earnings. . Kim is expected to play as an individual this week and not as part of the 13 LIV teams.

The complicated element is what Kim’s return means and what to expect. Before Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Kim was golf’s big young prodigy and he was expected to take a share of Tiger Woods’ place in the golf spotlight. The Los Angeles native played college golf at Oklahoma and played on a Walker Cup-winning team before turning professional at age 22. Kim won two PGA Tour events at Quail Hollow and TPC Potomac in his second full professional season and became the first golfer under the age of 25 to win. two tour events in the same season since Woods in 2000. At the end of that 2008 season, Kim was 23 years old, No. 6 in the world, and the biggest rising star in the sport.

With an extremely aggressive playing style and outgoing personality, Kim immediately became a star in a demographic that golf didn’t always reach. He made the 2008 Ryder Cup team at age 23 (young for a spot on that team at the time) and dominated Sergio Garcia with a 5&4 thrashing as the United States won for the first time in nine years. The following spring, Kim went to the 2009 Masters and broke the tournament record with 11 birdies in the second round. That may have turned out to be his peak.

He never really became the star he was expected to be. He only won one more event, the Houston Open, and slowly fell from No. 6 in the world to No. 24 to No. 31 to No. 78 between 2008 and 2012. Injuries were probably a big part of that, but much of the memory of Kim probably has her roots in 2008 and not the bigger picture.

He oozes incredible talent. The world has seen it in the past and now it is an honor as Commissioner of LIV Golf to give this star the opportunity to be reborn. Welcome back to the LIV Golf family, mate. The golf world has missed you. pic.twitter.com/HNzsXPgFUp

-Greg Norman (@SharkGregNorman) February 26, 2024

Much of his rise came while playing with a thumb injury, which Kim later said he overcompensated for and created tendinitis in his wrist. In 2012, he was with Drew in three tournaments and eventually tore his left Achilles tendon.

But while her absence meant that Kim didn’t become the star someone expected, it also meant that she didn’t have to go through the normal ups and downs of a career. The shine eventually comes out of all young players, but being out meant being frozen in time as a beacon of potential.

However, because of this, Kim may have courage. It’s so interesting to many that fans can tune into LIV to see what has become of Kim. The next question is how long that interest will last if Kim doesn’t play well. That part is up to him.