Two years ago, when Anthony Kim decided to return to public life and public golf, there were two guarantees: (1) He would get a bunch of starts no matter how he played, and (2) People would watch (at least at first) and comment.
There was nothing promised about the shape of his game as he neared 40. There was little disclosed about the shape of his body or injuries he’d battled while away. The golf world had to wake up — and wake up early — for his first start, in Saudi Arabia, and watch for ourselves. The results weren’t great.
But given all the context that would eventually come — how Kim had battled drug and alcohol addiction — the results also didn’t seem to matter all that much early on. Progress mattered. Right until those guaranteed starts ran out, about five months ago.
Fast-forward to last weekend and the first truly consequential start of Kim’s second golf career. It was the first Q-school-type event that Kim has entered since his return. The first time he’s started a calendar year unaware of how much pro golf he had in his immediate future. But at the LIV Promotions event, which concluded Sunday, Kim survived a field of 78, finishing solo third in a tournament where the top-3 finishers booked a season worth of LIV starts.
If you’re unaware of Kim’s journey, you can dive in here. What we’re here to discuss is: What to make of it? How impressive was this result? And what does it mean for his 2026?
Kim is now 40-going-on-41. Time is not on his side for competing with the Jon Rahms of the world on LIV Golf. Since Kim’s return, he has made 34 starts and shown that driving is a weakness, just as it was to a degree when he was a PGA Tour winner. Kim also lacks the pop of his peer — his 293.5-yard average driving distance in 2025 ranked 50th out of 54 LIV players — which is the quickest way to fall behind in modern pro golf.
He does, however, chip at a high level, right around the PGA Tour average. He also putts well, just a notch below PGA Tour average, according to DataGolf. Also impressive! But to be a sustainable, high-performing modern golfer, ball-striking is everything. That’s the foundation that needs to exist — you see it in many pros, who can only win when their putter gets hot.
Essentially, that’s what Kim has been. He has fluttered around the lower end of LIV Golf leaderboards, occasionally popping up into, say, T29 when he putts it great for three days.
But then there’s his recent form. Without straining too hard, it’s clear to see some legitimate progress. While playing in a handful of four-round events across Asia this fall, Kim missed just one cut and raised his floor. His worst rounds weren’t cratering him out of tournaments like they once did, all of which led him to the PIF Saudi International in November — featuring many of LIV’s best players — where he tied for 5th. It was his first time in serious contention for a tournament, and appeared to be the first time he was genuinely upset with an under-par score (70, in the final round).
That start was easy to miss — an offseason event in the Middle East — but it’s more relevant now that Kim backed it up a month and a half later. With three more rounds of data from the LIV Promotions event, Kim now has finished strokes-gained positive in consecutive tournaments for the first time since his return. Those numbers are “True Strokes Gained” per DataGolf, too, which are adjusted to reflect the strength of field. In other words, Kim’s performance would have fared well anywhere in the world, which is important when you consider what the caliber of players in LIV Promotions.
The event promises a season’s worth of LIV starts — likely as league “wild cards” — to the top-three finishers. It was played amid threats of bans lobbied by the PGA Tour, which led to at least one initial contestant dropping out. It was filled with many players with whom golf fans likely are unfamiliar, or haven’t heard from in a while.
In the aggregate, the field strength was probably closer to that of a PGA Tour Americas tournament than a Korn Ferry Tour event. Still, they are professional golfers, some of whom have played LIV events, others of whom have contended in major championships. For Kim to know what he had to do to qualify, and do it, is impressive. It was the first time his current self truly earned something his former self hadn’t enabled. And as with any Q-school-type setting, advancing already had Kim thinking about what might come next.
“This is just the first step,” he said, clearly hoping to send a message. “But I’m glad I earned my spot so everybody could quit talking s–t, and I’ll be back soon and I’ll be winning golf tournaments soon.”
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