{"id":482319,"date":"2026-02-15T21:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T21:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/482319\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T21:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T21:14:15","slug":"anthony-kim-completes-inspirational-comeback-from-golfing-obscurity-to-win-liv-golf-adelaide-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/482319\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Kim completes inspirational comeback from golfing obscurity to win LIV Golf Adelaide \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Redemption isn\u2019t always found. In Anthony Kim\u2019s case, it was; and it came with much of his old flair as his return from the golfing wilderness \u2013 having fought with addiction issues for more than a decade \u2013 saw the American march proudly back into the spotlight with a mesmerising display to win the LIV<\/a> Adelaide tournament in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that I wasn\u2019t the best person, the best partner, the best whatever you want to call it, the best son I could be when I was younger. But who I am today is a completely different person. With God, my family, my sobriety being the key things to my life, I can go as far as I want,\u201d said the 40-year-old Kim after completing the redemptive journey with a final round 63 for a total of 23 under par, three shots clear of Jon Rahm.<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s victory in Adelaide, having started the final round five shots adrift of Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, was his first win anywhere since the Houston Open win on the PGA Tour back in 2010. <\/p>\n

In the 16 years since, Kim\u2019s well-documented addiction issues, with drugs and alcohol, saw him disappear from the sporting stage and even his surprise reappearance on LIV in 2024 only served to reveal a player a shadow of his old self. He was relegated from the Saudi PIF-backed circuit last season only to claim a wild card status through the backdoor LIV Promotions (qualifier) tournament last month.<\/p>\n

And he only secured a place on a team \u2013 4Aces \u2013 ahead of Adelaide, benefiting from Patrick Reed\u2019s decision not to re-sign for LIV.<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s win in Australia \u2013 his first in 5,785 days, almost 16 years since that Houston Open success \u2013 was delivered with all the energy of the old Kim, relishing in the moment of birdie putt after birdie putt finding the tin cup to catch and then pass Rahm.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard, too, got caught up in the drama. \u201cIn a weird way, as a competitor, I probably shouldn\u2019t say this, but that was a joy to watch. To see that image on 18 of \u200chim \u200chugging \u200bhis wife and daughter, any man with a soul is going to have a soft spot for that. I was almost tearing up,\u201d admitted Rahm.<\/p>\n

\"AnthonyAnthony Kim celebrates with his wife Emily and his daughter Isabella. Photograph: Brenton Edwards\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s financial reward was a $4 million pay day but the financial aspects were but numbers compared to the real-life meaning of his recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t know what to say right now. It\u2019s been overwhelming. I\u2019m never not going to fight for \u200cmy family. God gave me a talent and I was able to produce some good golf today. I knew it was coming. Nobody else has to believe in me but me. For anybody who\u2019s struggling, you can get through anything,\u201d said Kim who, in his changed perspective, anticipated some family time with his wife Emily and daughter Bella to go see koalas and kangaroos in their remaining days in Australia.<\/p>\n

Of how he would describe those missing years from his golfing life to his daughter when she is older, Kim replied: \u201cI\u2019m going to try to leave a lot of details out. But I will tell her that before she came into this world that I didn\u2019t feel any purpose in my life. Whether you have a lot of money, whether you have a lot of success in your life, you still can feel lonely and feel like the world is against you, and that\u2019s in your own mind because I had a lot of people rooting for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I just want her to know that no matter how bad your day is, if you keep fighting, you never lose. Hopefully she takes that with her for the rest of her life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those lost days and months and years have been left behind, with Kim \u2013 his deeds again providing inspiration \u2013 back in the spotlight for the right reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way I get to reach the amount of people I want to reach is by winning. I can talk about my struggles all I want, but if I don\u2019t have the platform, then I won\u2019t reach as many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in rehab, that was my goal. I said, if I got out of here, I\u2019d like to help people, and golf wasn\u2019t in the picture. My goal is to inspire the people that are struggling because I feel like the world needs more of that today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Redemption isn\u2019t always found. In Anthony Kim\u2019s case, it was; and it came with much of his old…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,228289,85],"class_list":["post-482319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-liv-golf-invitational-series","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}