Anthony Kim’s stint with LIV Golf was as rocky as he expected, especially coming off a 12-year competitive hiatus.
“I think the first year, I was just trying not to shank the ball,” Kim said at this week’s LIV Promotions event in Florida. “Obviously it was a few months into golf before I really started getting to play my first event. So expectations weren’t high, even though I know what I’m capable of. I think after two years of practicing and playing competitive golf, I’ve started to find my footing.”
In two years on LIV, Kim had zero top 20 finishes and found himself relegated after this season. But the former World No. 6 did show flashes of good golf this fall, where he made three straight cuts on the Asian Tour, including a T5 at the Saudi International. Kim arrived at this week’s LIV Promotions event hoping to earn one of the three available spots in the breakaway league, as he eyes a return to a place he hasn’t been in 15 years: a major championship.
“The goal is to get back to playing at the highest level,” Kim said. “I think when you play against major championship winners week after week, you’re forced to get better, and it prepares you more for the majors. I’ve played in a few majors myself, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there.”
Kim was exempt into the second round of the LIV Promotions event at Black Diamond Ranch, but needed to hole a clutch putt on the 18th hole to secure his spot in the weekend.
That putt gave Kim life as he hunts one of the three spots available in the Saudi-backed breakaway league, but the 40-year-old was quick to note that a spot in LIV, or any league, is not the end-all, be-all for him after a turbulent life in and out of golf.
“I’ve played a lot of golf,” Kim said. “My perspective on life has changed. My perspective on golf has changed. Obviously, it would be a great feeling to make it back on LIV and qualify. But this isn’t the only thing left for me. I’ve got a lot of things that I want to do in the future. Be competitive in golf also, but there is so much more to life than golf. I’m looking forward to playing my best in the next couple years.”
Scores reset after Round 2, giving Kim a fresh start to make his charge toward a new life on LIV. He fired a third-round 66, putting him at four under and in a tie for second place along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond.
One shot behind is a former DP World Tour winner, who, like Kim, has gone from rising star to golf footnote in Lucas Bjerregaard.
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard was a star amateur before winning the Portugal Masters in 2017. In 2018, Bjerregaard beat Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton to win the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. That year, he reached No. 42 in the Official World Golf Rankings and carded top-25 finishes at the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship. The following season, Bjerregaard defeated Tiger Woods at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
But Bjerregaard fell out of form, has dealt with back injuries and is now ranked 468th in the world. But he believes that LIV could be just what he needs as he tries to get back to top form while at a different stage in his life.
“These last few years have definitely been tough on myself and the family,” Bjerregaard said, via LIV Golf. “My relationship with the game is probably a little bit different now than it used to be.
“These last three or four years, not having played very well and struggled, it’s been a lot of travel, and it’s been a lot of feeling alone in hotel rooms and stuff, and LIV seems to be the opposite of that. So that seems very appealing to me.”
Three spots in LIV will be on the line Sunday at Black Diamond Ranch. For leader Richard T. Lee and other journeymen, 18 holes can change everything.
For Kim and Bjerregaard, 18 holes is just the next step in their respective golf comebacks, no matter the outcome.
