Anthony Kim targeting to be “in contention at some point” despite a disappointing comeback at LIV Jeddah
It was perhaps not the dream return to golf that 38-year-old Anthony Kim had in mind. He struggled to a last-place finish at LIV Golf Jeddah in his first tournament in 11 years. It wasn't a particularly encouraging performance as the golfer shot 16 over in three rounds.
The next closest golfer to him was Hudson Swafford, who shot five over. Kim was well behind everyone in a tough return. He showed a bit of life in his final round, but it didn't change the overall performance.
Despite that, Kim aims to be in contention again soon. It's not a total surprise that someone who hasn't played professionally in more than a decade and who had a pretty difficult injury history would struggle their first time back out.
Kim said (via NUCLR GOLF on X):
"Obviously it was a rough week. I'm excited to be playing professional golf again. I feel very blessed that I have this opportunity. I've got a lot to work on, but I had a lot of good things go my way this week. So I'm looking forward to building on that and being in contention at some point this year."
Despite the statline, Kim feels as if he played a little better than it might seem. That +16 accounts for some "unforced errors" which were pretty unfortunate. The American said he was disappointed with the score, but he has a lot to build on.
"I would be lying to say that I didn’t have certain expectations," Kim said. "At least even if I played bad, I thought I would shoot around par. It was unfortunate that I made so many unforced errors from the middle of the fairway. That’s generally my strength is my iron game. To make so many unforced errors is really disappointing."
The next LIV Golf event is in Hong Kong on March 8, so Anthony Kim has a short turnaround before the next time he can suit up and try to redeem himself. Following this, he will have an opportunity to compete in America again at the LIV Miami event on April 5.
Can Anthony Kim be ranked by OWGR?
Anthony Kim's name is absent from the entire OWGR list due to his prolonged absence from sanctioned events for over a decade, causing him to drop off. At his peak, Kim was ranked as the sixth-best golfer in the world.
LIV events do not get points, but that does not mean the tour's members can't. They can play in certain events, like on the Asian Tour, which is what Joaquin Niemann did.
Award points earned from tournaments can contribute to qualifying for Major tournaments, as was Niemann's goal. In a hypothetical scenario where Kim were to qualify for majors, although it may be a long shot at present, he could also accumulate points from those events.
But for now, there are no points available for him and he is not currently ranked in any capacity.