Jon Rahm didn’t know when lightning would strike. He just knew that at some point it would strike.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point this season he’s someone who lifts the trophy at the end of the week,” Rahm said on Saturday after the third round of LIV Golf Adelaide.
Twenty-four hours later, Anthony Kim had proved Rahm to be prophetic, bumping him and Bryson DeChambeau on Sunday in captured his first victory since the 2010 Shell Houston Open.
Kim’s story is well-documented.
Once the No. 6 ranked player in the world, Kim left the Quail Hollow Club in 2012 and disappeared from the public eye. Once a feisty and eccentric budding star, Kim left professional golf to deal with several injuries he suffered on the PGA Tour—injuries he thought had ended his professional career. He was dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. Kim has spoken of the “trauma” he has faced and believes it is a minor miracle he is still alive. He said that the premature birth of his daughter, Isabella, who is now four, made him realize he needed to get his life together. LIV Golf gave him an opportunity to return to the pro ranks. Kim struggled during his first two seasons on the Saudi-backed circuit and had to earn his way back into the league through the LIV Promotions event.
All this. Everything that has happened since Anthony Kim that Anthony Kim came flooding back as he poured in layup after layup beat two of the best players on the planet.
“I would say that was all the bad that I went through in my life that I was able to dig out of,” Kim said. “Every putt that went in, I felt the fight and I was getting over it. It was therapeutic to fight back and come out on top.”
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Anthony Kim’s unlikely win at LIV: How it happened – and what does it mean?
James Colgan
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Sean Zak
When the dust settled at The Grange, Kim had punched his way to a three-stroke victory, one that had everyone thinking about the timing. About 16 years, how much time changes things, and how improbable Anthony Kim’s path to returning to a winner’s circle of any kind was.
“He was a weapon. He was playing Ryder Cups, winning quite often, I’d say. I’m not sure exactly how many times he won. Three times. He almost had an aura about him,” Marc Leishman said on Sunday.
“He’s been working hard. I actually played Anthony in his first round in Saudi a few years ago, and it was crazy to say the least, and I was very skeptical at first,” Cam Smith offered. “But what he’s been able to do over the last two seasons and dig deep and do what he did today is pretty special.”
