02 March 2024 , 17:07
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LIV golf star Anthony Kim’s long-awaited return to golf is not going well at LIV Jeddah.
The 38-year-old made his comeback to the sport by signing up to the controversial Saudi-backed circuit in February. Having not played a professional round of golf since 2012 after quitting the sport due to injury, the former World No. 6 targeted LIV Jeddah as the tournament to step back on the course, but it has not gone as he had hoped.
He began round one by finishing with a seven-bogey, one-birdie round of 76 and a massive 14 shots behind leaders Jon Rahm and Adrian Meronk. On Saturday Kim shot +6, 76 for the second successive day and will go into Sunday's final day 25 points behind the leader, Joaquin Niemann. Arguably his worst moment of the event came at the sixth hole of day one, when he lost his shape and shanked a ball horribly.
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After Friday’s round, he said: "I would be lying to say that I didn't have certain expectations. At least even if I played bad, I thought I would shoot around par. 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. I’ve got a lot to build on, and I'm looking forward to the next two days.” Kim will play the rest of the 2024 LIV season as a wildcard and he is not a member of any of the 13 teams involved. Despite his poor start and the clear signs of rustiness, the player is determined to improve his level and change the course of his comeback.
"Right now I'm just focused on trying to hit good shots as opposed to comparing my game to other people," Kim said. "I think that will come over the next few tournaments. But right now, I'm just trying to take it one shot at a time, as cliche as that is." Kim chose to leave professional golf after undergoing surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon in 2012.
Kim's rustiness is showing as he is last on the LIV Jeddah leaderboard (Francois Nel/Getty Images)12 years later, in a press release on Wednesday, the three-time PGA Tour winner chose their rivals as the place to make a comeback. "After stepping away from the game years ago due to injury, I'm happy to officially announce my return to the world of professional golf," Kim said.
"It's been a long time coming, and I'm very grateful for all the highs, lows and lessons learned from the first part of my career. I want to compete with the best players in the world, and I'm on a mission to prove to myself that I can win again. The next step on that journey starts now, and I'm excited to give everything I've got this season on the LIV Golf League."
Though he is not on a team at the moment, Kim can earn points as an individual which can provide him with an opportunity to earn a place on a LIV Golf team. The LIV season will continue next week in Hong Kong before returning to the United States in early April.