DORAL, FLORIDA | A solitary chair sat on an otherwise empty stage inside the sprawling hotel/clubhouse at Trump National Doral on Thursday morning, the lights dimmed in the back of the big room to further illuminate the seat.
The seat belonged to Anthony Kim, who walked in with the tail of his pink golf shirt untucked over his black shorts. A ponytail of sorts protruded from the back of his cap that bore a LIV Golf logo and his initials on the front.
It was a stark setting for Kim, who sat there for 30 minutes, taking questions from the media before this week’s LIV Golf Miami event, the first such session since his return to professional golf earlier this year after a mysterious 12-year absence.
Kim had told a portion of his story in a video interview with David Feherty on LIV Golf’s social-media platforms, but he’s saving the gritty details for a documentary that will be released in the relatively near future – and he says the subject matter is dark.
On his own terms, Kim, 38, has begun publicly unraveling what was one of golf’s intriguing mysteries: Where did he go, and what happened to him?
“I’m hoping to help other people understand that life, you know, can throw a lot of s*** at you, but you go through tough things and they make you tougher, and you can make it through,” Kim said in his deep voice.
Kim was a comet, a three-time PGA Tour winner in a 23-month period in 2008-10. Two years later, he vanished.
Nearly forever.
Addiction, injury and more sent Kim to a place that could have killed him.
If his performance through two LIV tournaments has been underwhelming – he has finished 53rd and 50th in the 54-player events – Kim’s return to the game has been intriguing.
“When doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that’s a pretty rude awakening,” Kim said without delving into the details.
If his performance through two LIV tournaments has been underwhelming – he has finished 53rd and 50th in the 54-player events – Kim’s return to the game has been intriguing. There is still an air of mystery about all that happened over the 12 years he was away.
Kim understands the questions about the past, but he leans into where he is today. He’s married and has a young daughter whom he lights up talking about. They live in Oklahoma City (he attended the University of Oklahoma in nearby Norman for three years), and he credits them and others in his support group with getting him here.
“People that love me, whether I play golf or not. I don’t know that I could have said the same when I was 23, 24 years old with the people I was hanging out with,” Kim said.
People whom he described as snakes and scum in the Feherty interview. Kim does not blame just them.
“They weren’t all bad people. I made these poor decisions,” Kim said, holding a microphone in a room full of strangers.
To appreciate where he is – a member of LIV Golf after being recruited by CEO Greg Norman – it’s necessary to remember where he was. Kim was a rough-around-the-edges star, blessed with an insouciant confidence that may have exceeded his enormous talent.
He played the first round of the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, withdrew and, until a couple of months ago, was essentially invisible.
Those rumors about him playing big-money games that popped up on the internet from time to time?
Kim said they never happened. The closest he got to golf was to watch a few holes when he needed a nap, he said.
“I actually had a Saturday one weekend a few months after I got done playing, and I had probably three or four rooms full of golf stuff – hats, gloves, balls, shoes, clubs, obviously – and I texted a hundred people and I said, just come – whoever gets here fast on Saturday gets to keep it all. Let’s just say it looked like a garage sale,” Kim said.
He has had seven surgeries since he left the game, including a spinal fusion. Until this week, Kim didn’t know Brooks Koepka won back-to-back majors a few years ago. He’s still getting acquainted with the game’s new rules. He didn’t know what TrackMan is until recently.
Kim heard about LIV Golf when it started and got messages that the league would be interested in him joining. He had no interest.
“I wasn’t in a place to play golf,” Kim said.
Less than a year ago, Kim began playing a few holes at a time with his wife, Emily, because she wanted to play. The golf feelings came back quickly. Then he tried to jump a creek, broke his ankle and spent four months in a cast.
Kim thought that would end any potential comeback, but he said LIV and the PGA Tour reached out to him. Whatever questions or legal entanglements were wrapped up in a medical-insurance settlement he reportedly received remain under wraps.
“I’ve had some experiences that I wouldn’t wish on anybody. But through those experiences, I’ve learned what is important to me. …” – Anthony Kim
Now he’s in Miami with his wife and daughter and his new life.
“I definitely remember what it feels like to hit good golf shots and be in contention and play well, but I’m a totally different person,” Kim said.
“I’ve had some experiences that I wouldn’t wish on anybody. But through those experiences, I’ve learned what is important to me, and it doesn’t mean that it has to be important for anybody else, but it’s important to me. Being a father is the greatest gift that I’ve ever received, and I’m not going to let [daughter Isabella] down.”
When the media session was over, Kim headed to a hallway where his family awaited.
He crouched down to bump fists with his young daughter and gathered his small group together.
“Dad’s going to go practice,” Kim told his daughter and wife.
They walked away together.