What a quick recovery Anthony Kim LIV return as Rahm leads in Saudi after so much absence
What a quick recovery Anthony Kim LIV return as Rahm leads in Saudi after so much absence
Anthony Kim, here in his heyday, has had a poor return to competitive golf in the LIV Jeddah event.
Anthony Kim hit his first competitive shot in 4320 days – and then hit more shots than he wanted at the LIV Golf Jeddah tournament.
The one-time US star opened with a six-over 76 and was in last place, trailing Masters champion Jon Rahm and Adrian Meronk by 14 shots after Friday’s first round.
Kim walked away from the PGA Tour after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship on May 3, 2012, beset by injuries and a lost game.
He signed on this week to be a wild card for the remainder of the LIV season, meaning he doesn’t belong to any team.
A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, the 38-year-old Californian now has a young daughter and is trying to compete again after more than a decade of hardly any golf activity.
“I would be lying to say that I didn’t have certain expectations. Even if I played bad, I thought I would shoot around par,” Kim said.
“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.”
Rahm, also a new addition to the Saudi-funded league this year, birdied his last three holes at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club for an eight-under 62 and a share of the first-round lead with yet another LIV newcomer, Poland’s Meronk.
They were one shot ahead of a group that included Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who bogeyed his last hole and dropped back to a 63. Nieman already has won once this year in LIV Golf, along with an Australian Open title that was key towards him receiving a Masters invitation.
Following the newcomer theme, Lucas Herbert, who’s also in his first campaign, shot a fine five-under 65 to be the leading Australian in joint-seventh place.
Brooks Koepka managed only two birdies in a round of 69 as he looked for a third straight LIV title in Saudi Arabia, while Australia’s former Open champion Cameron Smith was on the same one-under score in joint-34th position.
