Goodness, gracious, what a Saturday night (or early Sunday morning). Anthony Kim is a winner again, closing the biggest chapter in a wild comeback story with a win in a noisy LIV in Australia. Below, GOLF editors Dylan Dethier, Sean Zak and James Colgan discuss the best moments, feelings and takeaways from golf’s most unexpected girlfriend.
1. Gentlemen, it’s almost 1 am in Chicago, but I won’t be sleeping anytime soon because Anthony Kim just won at LIV Golf. It is completely impossible to tell everything about his story, his years away from the game, his battle with drug abuse and even his struggles since returning. But on Sunday in Australia, he shot 63 to beat Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. What are you thinking now?
Dylan Dethier, senior writer: Impossible. That’s what I keep thinking. In no way. Anthony Kim’s early golf comeback was fascinating and compelling theater. But there was no sign of that coming. He was not competitive in his first two years at LIV. He was relegated. This seemed an anticlimactic but inevitable end to the experiment. I was amazed and impressed that he made it through the LIV Promotions event to earn his spot; that was impressive. But chasing Rahm and Bryson in the final round of LIV’s biggest event is, like, six levels up. Shocking on several levels.
Sean Zak, Senior Writer: I spent most of the evening just laughing out loud at him. It is so comically impossible that I could feel nothing but gleeful laughter. He took down two of the best players in the world and hit them with three or more. This was among the most fun hours of golf I’ve had in a very, very long time. (Apologies for not getting, like, everything in AK’s past, which is important context!)
James Colgan, news and features editor: I think the last time Anthony Kim won a golf tournament, Instagram didn’t exist. Literally. The fact that your winless streak can span three presidential administrations, a decade-long absence from public life, two years of the most disturbing tournament golf played by anyone on planet earth … and STILL end with a win? There are no words. That’s just the magic of golf.
2. DeChambeau faded early, but Rahm kept hanging around. Kim had to do basically everything. Ultimately, he won by three. What was at the top of your mind as you watched him play?
Dethier Outside of the Ryder Cup, you just don’t see guys pumping a lot these days. But AK just kept pouring pretty down the middle and unleashing monsters. He didn’t miss a beat in the last two hours? I kept waiting for the magnitude of the moment to strike, the pressure to block it. If the opposite happens.
Zack: When was the last time we saw someone make that many shots to come back and steal an inning? we were in St. Andrews with Cam Smith. Maybe that’s why I was laughing the whole time. Everything dripped into the center of the cup as if there was nowhere else these goblets could go. It reminds me of a Paul Azinger quote from the day after Smith had that flurry of birdies on the Old Course: “His putts would have landed on a finger.”
Colgan: I was thinking about how, from time to time, a player experiences a few hours in which the hole looks the size of an asteroid crater. And I was thinking about how Anthony Kim was definitely having one of those experiences.
3. Is there any way you could contextualize it all for those who weren’t following Kim’s journey closely?
Dethier: See, the fascinating thing about Kim isn’t just that he retired young. It’s that he disappeared. Off the grid. Out of the public eye. For more than a decade, the golfing world—outside of a small, trusted circle—had no idea what he was doing. It felt like a big deal every time we saw him at all.
At the beginning of this work, I wrote about an interaction Kim had with a reader named Ben outside a brunch in LA. It felt like a big deal at the time; he had been gone for so long. He said his golf game was “non-existent”. That was seven years ago. Look, I’m not saying he just won the Masters. But for a guy to be away from the sport for so long? I just can’t think of any equivalent.
Zack: This might be a trick question, actually. Because Kim has only shared a fragment of what he really fought for. I understand that he is interested in sharing more about his addictions and depression and how it drove his life to the brink. Now he’s created the perfect ending, and I think we’ll get a lot more context in the future. I will be anxious to learn more when he is ready.
Colgan: On February 20, 2025, Anthony Kim celebrated two years of sobriety (ironically, given my earlier analogy) on Instagram. He detailed suffering such severe withdrawal symptoms in his first few days in rehab that he needed physical assistance to walk. He suggested he had been using drugs playing in major championships. And that story? That story didn’t include the decade he had spent away or the rest of the golf stuff he had to work on to get inside a hundred. MILES of a win… let alone in the winner’s circle.
4. There was a flurry of hugs for Kim in the moments after his win from all sorts of LIV characters. One was the league’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, which got me thinking more about the league in general. Does this mean anything extra for LIV Golf?
Dethier: I have to be honest: at this point, I have no idea. In many ways, this feels more like an Anthony Kim story than a LIV story – but the massive crowds and frenzied energy in the venue contributed immensely to a wild night of golf viewing, so the fact that it came to LIV’s main event has to be a win.
I think here’s what I feel confident about: this was the league’s biggest, most real moment yet. A truly fascinating story that intertwines with a truly absurd stretch of golf. You can’t build the whole plane from AK’s return – he can only win for the first time once! — but it’s safe to say they’d take Rahm-Bryson-AK any event the rest of the way.
Zack: Imagine if that happened a week ago, when LIV Golf played under the lights in front of raucous crowds in Saudi Arabia. Now throw away that image, because it happened in Adelaide, in what event organizers call golf’s most watched event in the history of Australia. It may not be a LIV story to begin with, but AK gave LIV some of the best looks it has ever received from actual competition. Fans crowd the 18th hole, AK cheering as the champions walk to the green, champagne pouring onto the green. This beats any champagne-stage-and-sparkles-concert we’ve seen in the last four years.
Colgan: Of course it does! We’re ready at what time, God knows, we’re talking about a LIV event! This is a fundamental change from usual for the league in a very big way. And Sean, about your opinion on crowds … serious question: Why doesn’t LIV play MORE events in Australia?
