Anthony Kim overcame a five-stroke deficit on Sunday at LIV Golf Adelaide to seek his first professional victory since the 2010 Shell Houston Open. Outperforming Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau in the final grouping, Kim fired a perfect final round 63 to finish the tournament at 23 under par and beat the Spaniard by three strokes. DeChambeau finished tied for third place with Tyrrell Hutton and Peter Uihlein at 17 under.
Kim said, “I want to be a good example.” “I don’t think I was the best person, the best partner, whatever you want to call it, or the best son when I was younger. But I’m a completely different person now. God, family, and temperance are the keys to my life, and I can go as far as I want.”
Only five golfers in the past 30 years have won three times on the PGA Tour by the age of 25, but Kim represented the United States in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and held the record for most birdies in a round at the Masters.
He unofficially retired from playing in 2012 after tearing his Achilles tendon, but revealed in 2024 that he had undergone treatment for multiple other injuries in the intervening years, including hand and spine surgeries. In 2025, he revealed that he had been sober for two years after battling drug and alcohol abuse, and that he had considered suicide many times over the course of nearly 20 years, “even when I was playing on the PGA Tour.”
Although there had long been rumors of a return to competition, Kim did not return until joining LIV Golf in February 2024, and played his first tournament in 12 years in March of the same year. His victory Sunday was one of relief.
Kim Byung-hyun entered the final round of LIV Golf Adelaide with a five-stroke lead over Rahm and DeChambeau, co-leaders of the tournament and four-time major champions. It looked like these two would fight to the end, but Kim held on.
As DeChambeau struggled repeatedly early on, Kim stayed calm and kept pace with Rahm, who extended his lead to 20 under thanks to a birdie on the par-4 fourth. Kim added one of her own on that hole and three more before the final trio turned. In nine holes, Kim cut his lead from five strokes to one stroke. The battle on the back nine focused on Rahm and Kim, with the latter ultimately outperforming the Spaniard.
Kim gained momentum as the round progressed, making birdie on the 12th to move into the lead at 19 under. Kim took the first solo lead of the afternoon on the par-5 13th hole, then made two more shots on the 14th and 15th to pull away from Rahm with three holes remaining. He added one more on the par-4 17th, putting the tournament on ice and enjoying the final climb.
“I know I can make a lot of birdies. I know my confidence is second to none. Obviously 12 and a half years away from the game is a long time. I’ve got to get that confidence back,” Kim said. So I don’t think I was afraid of playing someone else since I was in my 20s. Now I’m not afraid to play with anyone. I know this is just one golf tournament, but I believe in myself. That will never change. ”
Kim made 14 starts on the LIV Golf and Asian Tour in his 2024 comeback season, but never finished inside the top 30 in an event. His best finish was a 36th place finish at the LIV Golf Greenbrier. Similar results were achieved in 2025, when Kim struggled and continued to play as a wild card in the league. The electric right-hander failed to score any individual points during the season, finishing outside the top 40 in 12 of his 13 appearances at LIV Golf.
As a result, Kim was kicked out of the league through the relegation zone, but he just returned after passing the qualifying round at a LIV Golf promotional event in January of this year.
After playing two seasons as an individual, Kim found a roster spot with his first team, the 4Aces, led by Dustin Johnson, as Patrick Reed left the league. It marked another step in his return to the game after years away from the game, a journey that was completed much sooner than most expected, with an exclamation point put on it at this week’s LIV Golf Adelaide.
“Nothing’s going to hold me back. Nothing’s going to hold me back. I just have to keep working,” Kim said. “I’m going to hold on to the idea of improving 1% every day until the day I die. I don’t see why I can’t get back to the top.”
