AK determined to shut up the haters
Kim earns Promotion back onto LIV Golf this time; Stray Shot: the cost to Koepka
Anthony Kim finally gets a result good enough the talk about in his comeback era (Mike Stobe/LIV Golf)
It can’t be easy to emerge from 12 years as a mysterious cult fascination into an all-too-real global golf punchline, but that’s where Anthony Kim has resided for the last two seasons on the bottom of the LIV Golf standings.
Last week, AK got to punch back a little.
In the LIV Golf Promotions event at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida, Kim grinded his way to a third-place finish to earn one of the three 2026 LIV wild cards on offer to qualifiers. His 36-hole score of 5-under was six shots behind medalist Richard T. Lee of Canada and one back of runner-up Björn Hellgren of Sweden.
All three players earned wild-card status on LIV, which increased its field sizes to 57 players for 2026.
“I’m not here to prove everybody wrong. I’m here to prove myself right,” Kim said after securing his return to LIV after two excruciating seasons since returning to professional golf after 12 years in self-imposed exile. “I’ve worked so hard. … This is just the first step, but I’m glad I earned my spot so everybody could quit talking shit, and I’ll be back soon and I’ll be winning golf tournaments soon.”
Kim had to make a birdie on the last hole on Friday to advance to the final 36 holes. He was 1-under through 12 holes Saturday before birdies at 13, 14 and 16 pushed him into a three-way tie for second entering Sunday’s final round.
Kim shot 1-under 69 Sunday to finish third at 5-under, two clear of fourth place and safely back on LIV for a third season. He finished near the bottom at 56th and 55th in the individual standings his first two seasons on the Saudi-funded curcuit.
“I’m not sure how to feel about it quite yet because even though I played halfway decent, you still have to have a little luck go your way in a 36-hole format,” Kim said. “I’m just glad I put myself in the right position and had a few shots to spare at the end. But very happy with how I performed.”
The performance was inarguably the most positive of Kim’s comeback, which has provided a lot of material for naysayers to mock him for get a well-paid free ride at the expense of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any highlights yet. I’m working on those,” Kim said. “But the world we live in, there’s so many negative people out there. Unfortunately I love hearing all the negativity. But I’m glad I get to throw this in their face.”
Once he made it through Friday’s qualifying round to be one of the 22 players who advanced to the final 36-hole shootout for three spots, Kim wasn’t thinking about the back-up option of International Series exemptions on the Asian Tour for the top-10 finishers.
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything but getting back on LIV,” he said. “I felt like I put in the time. I haven’t seen any breaks go my way. I haven’t seen the results.
“But I felt like God has a bigger plan. I found faith in rehab and in my sobriety. Not that God gives a shit if I make LIV or if I don’t, but I felt like I’m doing all the right things, and I would have a great opportunity to make it back, and that’s what I was planning on.”
Anthony Kim, Richard Lee and Björn Hellgren book spots on LIV (Mike Stobe/LIV Golf)
Lost in the Kim breakthrough was the life-altering success for both Lee and Hellgren, two 35-year-old journeymen professionals who will suddenly be playing in events with $20 million purses.
Lee dominated from beginning to end in the Promotions event at Black Diamond Ranch, making it through all three levels of qualifying in the four-day Promotions format by shooting 21-under cumulatively. Lee’s 64 in Thursday’s first round led the top 20 players and ties advancing into the second round. After being one of 22 players to make the cut on Friday to the final 36 holes, he cruised to a five-shot win with rounds of 64-65 on the weekend.
“It's not sunk in yet, to be honest,” said Lee, whose won three times on the Asian Tour including an International Series event in 2024.
“To be honest, it was pretty nerve-racking the first two rounds because you've got to come top 20 and advance to the next round,” he added. “It felt a lot different from the regular tournaments out there that I've played. I just got it done.
Sweden’s Hellgren — a former teammate at Florida State of Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger who qualified for the Promotions event by winning the Asian Tour’s season-ending Saudi Open last month — fired 64 on Sunday to vault into second, a shot ahead of Kim.
“It's a lot to take in,” Hellgren said.
“I’m good friends with Brooks. Brooks and Henrik (Stenson) are people I really look up to. Unfortunately I won’t join them this year, but I followed (LIV) quite a lot, and I was quite close to playing the first one in Centurion.
“It’s always been a goal of mine for the last four years to get on here. Thanks to the Asian Tour, without them, I wouldn’t be here. It kind of shows to all the guys, too, that are in my position back home that you might not be playing on the PGA Tour, but we’re traveling the world and grinding it out. A few good weeks and then you’re in it. That’s pretty amazing.”
