Anthony Kim attends a practice round before the start of LIV Golf Jeddah at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia, on Feb. 28.Jon Ferrey/LIV Golf/The Associated Press
It was not exactly true that Anthony Kim was ‘the next Tiger Woods.’
When Kim abracadabra’d his way out of golf, he was 26 years old. He’d never won a major.
At that age, Woods had won eight.
Instead, Kim was the Woods everyone in U.S. golf wanted. Same general backstory (the son of striving immigrant parents; in particular a golf-obsessed father with whom he had a fractious relationship; tapped in childhood for greatness), but very different approach.
Unlike Woods, Kim had a lip on him. He was going to be No. 1 in the world. He said that. A lot. When a reporter once suggested that people in golf might take issue with his approach, Kim replied, “I’m sure they do, but not to my face.”
Unlike so many of his contemporaries, Kim looked as though he were enjoying himself on the course. He played as well as worked. He talked about doing a reality show. He was that thing most people assume does not exist – a fun Millennial.
The only thing missing from Kim’s résumé was a résumé. He did win some – three Tour events over seven years. He finished seventh at an Open, and then fifth at the same tournament a few years later.
His career highlight was one remarkable day at The Masters. On a Friday in April, 2009, Kim hit 11 birdies in one round. The record still stands. He finished 20th.
At that point in his career, Kim was like a lot of guys who’d tried to talk themselves into being the greatest in history. He’d got within pitching distance of the top – no small accomplishment – but the gap between where he was and where the legends were was already a chasm. He was never going to cover it.
Kim didn’t really become ‘the next Tiger’ until after he was no longer going to be the next anything.
In 2012, Kim had surgery on an injured Achilles. It was announced that he’d be out up to a year. He never returned.
It has since been reported that, after the injury, Kim cashed in an insurance policy worth somewhere between US$10-million and US$20-million. A presumed stipulation of that payout was that he not play PGA Tour golf again.
He would pop up from time to time on courses around America, like an athletic Howard Hughes. He played in charity games. People around him teased a comeback that never materialized.
Now, 12 years after he left, it appears that Kim is returning.
Nothing’s official, but it has been strongly hinted that Kim will return this week at a LIV Golf event. So strongly that LIV made a TV commercial.
It shows Kim in shadow, wearing shorts and what looks like a mullet, hacking around in the desert. The same guy who does the movie trailers says, “As a new road emerges against a backdrop of endless possibilities, witness (… /long pause …) the dance of redemption.”
Maybe it sounds better in Arabic.
You can understand LIV’s angle here. At some point, it will no longer be able to make news by signing players. Then all the players it has already signed will have to start playing golf that people are willing to pay to watch. Because that may never happen, they have to keep signing new players.
The big two – Woods and Rory McIlroy – are off the board. Beyond them, there’s no one of stature left. So now you’re into stunt signings. Who fits that role better than golf’s Greta Garbo?
It’s worked a charm. Until a few days ago, no one was talking about LIV’s already under way season. Now everyone’s waiting for Friday’s big reveal.
That’s the corporate interest. Kim’s is a little harder to figure.
There’s money, no doubt. If LIV can give Jon Rahm US$600-million to be boring for several years, who knows how much they’re willing to give Kim to be exciting for one weekend.
If you asked me to do it, I’d be tearing out your pockets looking for a pen before you finished the question. But I have debts.
Kim made good money even before his payout. Unless he spends like a sailor with airs, enough to last several lifetimes. Whatever he’s getting now goes on the pile.
What he’s giving LIV in return isn’t the, ahem, dance of redemption. It’s his legend.
Kim wasn’t the next Tiger because of anything he did. He was the next Tiger because he left before everyone could be absolutely sure he didn’t have ‘next Tiger’ in him somewhere.
Next great ones are flaming out all the time for all sorts of reasons – injuries, drugs, criminal deportment, lack of quality. The thing they have in common is that they don’t have a choice in their departure. Kim did. He left of his own volition.
It was only in retrospect that people conferred upon him a mythic and never fully realized talent. As soon as he takes a swing on Friday, that’s over.
Kim is 38 years old now – not old in golf terms, but not spry. It’s possible he’ll show up even better than he was, and embarrass the LIV roster. It’s more possible he’ll be average. It’s most possible he’ll make no impression.
It is a rule of life that once people see what they were missing so badly, they often begin to wonder why they missed it in the first place. Kim is about to prove it.
He’s an alluring mystery right now. He’ll be a dull reality in a couple of days.
Maybe going from the 21st-century’s Bobby Jones – the player who could have done it all if he’d wanted – to another guy who woulda/coulda/shoulda is worth the big cheque to Kim. Maybe he thinks he’s going to prove something. Maybe it actually works out.
But nothing in sports is harder to obtain than a lasting legacy. Kim has one of the most mythic in modern sport, one that would have outlived him.
Assuming he still has millions in the bank, I can’t think of an amount that would be enough to make me want to give it up.