AK going in the right direction, even if the results aren’t there yet
ROCESTER, England – Anthony Kim was scrolling through some photos on his iPhone while traveling from Spain to this week’s LIV Golf UK by JCB. He had received one of those on-this-date-a-year-ago notifications, and up popped an image that reminded him of just how far he has come in the last 12 months.
Kim was wearing a cast for his broken ankle, and his daughter Bella was playfully pushing him around in a scooter. At that point, competitive golf was the farthest thing from his mind. His only attachment to the sport was teaching wife Emily how to play.
“Now I’m playing in front of thousands of people, and I have an opportunity to do something really special,” Kim said Tuesday after his practice session at JCB Golf and Country Club. “I’m not going to just let this chance slide by.”
It’s been less than five months since AK resumed his professional career, joining LIV Golf as a Wild Card player for the remainder of the 2024 League season. He’s made eight starts and played 24 rounds.
He will be the first to acknowledge that the results have been disappointing, his best finish a 46th at LIV Golf Nashville. But they have not been discouraging. The green shoots of progress continue to emerge as he shakes off the rust of his 12-year retirement.
Take his most recent start at LIV Golf Andalucía two weeks ago.
The first round at Valderrama was the most challenging in LIV Golf’s young history, playing to an average of 3.5 strokes above par. And yet Kim shot a 2-over 73, leaving him tied for 16th, his best position after any single round since his return. He was tied for first in putting average that day.
The next day, he played the first 14 holes in a bogey-free 2 under. At that point, it meant he had played the first 32 holes at Valderrama in even par – no minor feat considering the difficulty of the course.
He bogeyed three of his last four holes, however, to finish with a 72. Still, that left him tied for 21st entering the final round. If he could maintain his position, it would not only have been his best result, but his first individual points.
Instead, he shot a final-round 11-over 82, his highest score relative to par in any round, to finish tied for 49th. All week, he had put in long hours on the range at Valderrama that seemed to be paying off, but the final round was a reminder that plenty of work remains.
“Definitely scored halfway decent those first 32 holes in Spain,” Kim said, “but still not as comfortable as I feel like I can be, or I should be out there with my golf swing. But it's definitely going in the right direction.
“I'm committing to more shots. I would say I was probably committing to 50% of my shots until Nashville, and then probably I would say it's closer to 65, 70%. And that's kind of where I'm at right now.
“Obviously extremely disappointed with my finish in Spain, but I’ve come a long way in a short period of time. I’m hoping that it keeps trending in that direction, and I could start seeing some better results.”
The committing-to-shots focus is big for Kim. It’s an indication of trusting his game again, trusting his instincts – and trusting the process instead of trying to chase a score. The pressure to force a good result has been replaced by the desire to strike good shots.
“I know that I've got a lot of making up to do as far as practice time, but I'm working every day to get better,” he said. “I'm trying to commit to every shot. It doesn't sound like it should be that hard, but that is probably one of the hardest things to do in golf is to just trust what you've practiced and commit to it.
“So, I'm definitely seeing improvements there. Even though the scores aren't showing it, there's glimpses of it that I know that if I just keep doing the same thing, that eventually it's going to pay off.”
Not only have the length of his practice sessions increased, they now have more structure than before – and that’s going back to his playing days 15 years ago. His motto is to get 1% better every day. It’s a message he delivers on nearly every social media post.
“When I was playing at what people thought was a high level, I still wasn't really focused,” he said. “I didn't know what I was supposed to work on. I was just kind of winging it. So, now I feel like I've had enough time to figure out what I need to do to get better.
“12-and-a-half years [out of the game] is a long time, but it definitely gave me time to realize how I should practice and how I could get the most out of my game. And obviously if I'm being honest with myself, the last day [in Spain] I pushed too hard and I tried to do things that I haven't been working on. Instead of worrying about the process of the shot, I worried about what the outcome of the whole score would be.”
Asked how much outside help he’s sought, Kim acknowledged he has reached out to a few individuals but there is nothing official as of now.
“I've listened to a few people's opinion,” he said. “I wouldn't say that they were lessons, but I've been listening to some thoughts from people that have good golf minds. And since Nashville, I've kind of been trying to dial in my numbers with somebody, but I'm not for sure going in any direction yet. I'm just trying to figure out what's best for my game, and then by the end of the year, I'll have a clear picture of what I want to do.”
Five months back in competitive golf – and against the quality of LIV Golf fields – is a short timeframe compared to the 12 years of retirement. It’s easy to forget that he’s doing all this essentially on the fly. A proper offseason will help him enter the 2025 season with a more realistic hope of challenging on Sundays.
“Yeah, it has gone by really fast, and I've actually enjoyed the process of it,” AK said. “Obviously it sucks to not finish high and not finish to my expectations, but I've enjoyed the process, I've enjoyed the experiences, and I know I'm good enough to take it to the next level, and I'm going to do it.”