In January 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs stood before a packed audience and announced the company’s latest world-changing invention: the iPad.
Three months later, the world’s first iPad users picked up their devices, connected to the Internet, and were greeted with a golf title: Anthony Kim had just won the Houston Open. Did the same techies take to Instagram to celebrate the news? No. The social media giant was still six months from creation.
This is it how much time has passed between of Anthony Kim the last win and his last, which came after 16 long years early Sunday morning at LIV Australia. The 40-year-old professional shocked the golf world by winning by three strokes at Royal Adelaide, completing a comeback that seemed impossible by optimistic standards just a few months ago.
Kim won Sunday after firing a perfect nine-under, bogey-free final round that featured four straight birdies — and five in six holes — to pull back a few shots from a chasing group that included major winners Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Kim’s fist pumps reached a fever pitch with an emotional scene on the 18th hole, where some of the 38,500 Australian fans in attendance stormed the 18th fairway behind him to capture the scene on the green. After Kim’s first shot fell to finish the tournament at 23-under par, his teammates showered him with “soda water,” (according to LIV lead broadcaster Arlo White), and Kim shared an emotional hug with his wife and young daughter.
“I don’t really know what to say right now,” Kim said through tears. “It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m never going to fight for my family. God gave me a talent, I was able to produce some good golf today. I knew it was coming. Nobody else had to believe in me but me.”
The full extent of Kim’s return from the depths of golf remains something of a mystery, but those watching early Sunday morning in the United States had all the context they needed. Kim returned after more than a decade, after the fading golf superstar played poorly enough to be dropped from LIV Golf, and now, less than two years later, he’s back in the winner’s circle at arguably the league’s biggest event.
“I don’t know how to put it into words,” said Kim. “I knew this was going to happen, but for it to actually happen is pretty crazy.”
Kim disappeared from professional golf for more than a decade after his early 2010s peak, and his whereabouts remained one of the most publicized stories in the sport until the mid-2020s. In the year since returning to the sport to compete in LIV Golf, Kim has addressed his struggle with addiction and the depths of his recovery in a series of social media posts and interviews with LIV’s official social media channels. In six days, on February 20, he will celebrate three years of sobriety.
“For anyone who is struggling right now, you can overcome anything,” Kim said Sunday.
With the win, Kim earned $4 million and could climb as high as 200th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I just want to thank all the people who have supported me,” Kim said. “Including you, when I wasn’t playing well and was on the verge of not coming back to LIV, you always supported me. Thank you all for being in my corner, so I will continue to do so.”
