Anthony Kim ‘wasn’t even considering’ golf return before LIV interest

Anthony Kim has revealed he didn’t play any golf during his 12-year hiatus from public life and his interest reignited just three months ago.

The American told LIV Golf broadcaster David Feherty he hadn’t thought about restarting the career that once saw him rise to prominence on the PGA Tour before LIV chief executive Greg Norman reached out to begin the process of his move to the Saudi-funded league.

After winning three times on the PGA Tour between 2008 and 2010 and making his debut at the Ryder Cup in that time at the peak of his powers, injuries derailed Kim’s progress and in 2015, well into his absence from the public eye, he revealed he’d been receiving payments from an insurance policy which he took out five years before to cover his injuries.

The 38-year-old has now shed more light on his journey back to the game which he says was forged by his wife who wanted to take it up. This led to Kim spending more time on the golf course. He is now a member of the LIV Golf roster and plays as a wildcard and not part of a team.

“I know public opinion is that I took the money and decided I was just going to hang out, but that wasn’t the case at all, I had multiple surgeries in a few years and my body’s still not what it used to be,” he said.

“I’ve had multiple shoulder surgeries, hand surgery, spinal fusion, I had a lot of injuries and a lot of surgeries – I think I’m actually hitting the ball farther now than when I left the game, so maybe some of this metal is helping, so I’m hoping I don’t have any surgeries upcoming.

“I would be lying to say I didn’t have any interest (in the PGA Tour). They did reach out about the possibility of playing on the PGA Tour again. I weighed both options.

“Through all these experiences I’ve learned that as much as you try to make good decisions in your life, you need to stay true to who you are and that’s something that’s actually helping me in my golf game because I took some risks that were unnecessary before and now I’m a little bit more calculated, but I’m going to keep taking risks as I go along.

“Obviously, I’ve played at a high level before, but at the same time, I understand that I’ve taken 12 years away from the game and obviously there are a lot of opinions about whether I played golf or not and the honest answer is no, I have not played any golf until about 3 months ago when I got the call from Greg about possibly playing again.

“I wasn’t even considering playing golf, so my expectations are to just take it day by day, work hard and see where that gets me because the guys are getting better. I’ve been away so there’s a lot of rust, but I feel I can compete if I keep working on the right things.”

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Having never truly loved the game he appeared to have under his spell just over a decade ago, Kim now says he is falling in love with it. He once reached number six in the world and as well as picking up a trio of trophies in his home country, he also came outright third at the Masters in 2010.

After rumours circulated about a sensational return to the professional sphere at the start of 2024, Kim’s signature was confirmed ahead of LIV Golf’s Jeddah event at the start of March. He came last of 54 players and he came 50th in LIV’s most recent event in Hong Kong.

The current absence of quality in his game is in contrast to his early career which was full of promise. But Kim said he had an aggressive attitude on the golf course and off it and it is what he’s been doing away from the fairways that has many golf fans intrigued.

While he has yet to divulge what has occupied the majority of his time in the last 12 years and who he has spent it with, Kim revealed the people he associates with now are very different from when he was at the top of the mountain as a young golf sensation.

“I thought I was having a great time and I don’t remember any of those times and when I say that, I literally don’t remember any of those times because you figure at 23, 24, 22 years old, you’re supposed to be doing these things and it’s OK,” he said.

“But with the personality that I have, which is an addictive personality, it can get out of hand and unfortunately, I was around people that enjoyed the same things and maybe didn’t have the same opportunities as I did and the same responsibilities quite honestly.

“The mind is a very tricky, scary place and unfortunately, I didn’t handle it well before.

“I would say I have probably shed 98% of the people that were around me,” he added. “I was around some bad people, people that took advantage of me. Scam artists. When you’re 24, 25, 30 years old, you don’t realise the snakes that are living under your roof.

“But, through the grace of god, I’m here, I’m able to tell my story and hopefully inspire other people and my daughter is going to be proud of me no matter how I play and that’s the most important thing to me.”

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