Anthony Kim’s ‘HATERS,’ Joaquin Niemann’s millions, and Tiger Woods’ latest disappointment

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we start with a triumphant comeback. Yep, after three years months weeks away, I returned to Costco. On my surgically repaired right knee. And with my two favorite little helpers:

Man, it was great to be back. And the place looked just like I remembered it. The churro remains gone, but that hot dog and chocolate chunk cookie hit the spot. And my favorite pasta was even on sale. Oh, did you think I was going to talk about another comeback? My bad, let’s get to that and everything else going on in the world of golf.

Joaquin Niemann: That’s right, we’re starting with LIV, because, well, this guy is suddenly the hottest golfer on the planet. And, although Paul Azinger’s scorching take went a bit far, LIV has clearly made up a lot of ground on the PGA Tour in a short time. Anyway, Niemann won for a second time in three events on the new tour, this time by four shots in Jeddah:

Add in a victory at the Australian Open in December and invites to the Masters and now the PGA Championships and it’s been a fantastic few months for the 24-year-old Chilean. I was impressed enough with his play early Friday morning when I downloaded the CW app to watch Anthony Kim, that I even tossed a few bucks on Joaco to win at Augusta National. OK, let’s talk about AK . . .

Anthony Kim’s comeback: We stick with LIV and one of the biggest stories of the year in golf, and what should have been one of the biggest stories of the decade. Unfortunately, it lost some of its luster by happening in the middle of the night in the middle of an event with virtually no history, but it was still cool to see golf’s most mythical figure roaming the fairways—or, desert with some of his wild shots—again:

I know I wasn’t as into it as I thought I would be at the start of last week, but when LIV hit everyone with a flurry of videos, it hooked me. That being said, he’s going to have to play better than finishing dead last by 11 shots to get me to tune in that early again.

Austin Eckroat: The 25-year-old is the latest Oklahoma State product to win on the PGA Tour, and he did it in impressive fashion at the Cognizant Classic. In unfamiliar territory as a 54-hole co-leader, and having to deal with weather delays that caused a Monday finish, Eckroat looked completely unbothered during a final-round 67 that gave him a three-shot victory:

Eckroat continued a run of longshots winning on the PGA Tour to start the year. And the Monday finish didn’t help with generating any buzz, but this dude is legit. He finished runner-up at the Byron Nelson last year and tied a U.S. Open record by shooting 29 in the final round at LACC on his way to a T-10.

Joaquin Niemann’s whining: I can’t believe we’re talking about this again, but enough’s enough. Once again, Niemann took a victory interview to complain about his spot in the Official World Golf Ranking:

We get it. Everyone knows you’re a great player and that your ranking isn’t indicative of that. But does it matter when you get invited to play in the Masters and PGA anyway? (Also, LIV withdrew its application for OWGR on Tuesday so your own tour isn’t even fighting for it anymore.) Not to mention, you just won about $8 million for six days of playing golf. That’s more money than 99.9 percent of the planet will make in their lifetime and more golf than I will play for months with my knee. Just be happy and pipe down.

Anthony Kim’s “HATERS”: I liked everything about the LIV social media push around Anthony Kim until it got to the end of that comeback commercial. “HELLO HATERS, I’M BACK”? Huh? Have a look:

Again, it’s great. And that song is fire. But who exactly are AK’s haters? Doubters? Sure, but HATERS? All golf fans have been doing for the past decade is building this guy up into a legend and begging him to come back. My guy Christopher Powers did a nice job breaking it down here: