Anthony Kim last hit a golf shot at the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, where he dropped out after opening with a 2-over 74.
Nearly 12 years later, Kim, who has three wins on the PGA Tour, began his LIV golf career at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia.
He shot a 76 on a par 70 layout, not a bad score considering his long absence from the game.
“I was obviously disappointed with the score, but I played much better than the score,” Kim said after the round.
“I have a lot to build on. I had a lot of unforced errors, which was disappointing, but I feel like I’m not far from there.”
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Consider this. Will Zalatoris had back surgery last April and was then sidelined for seven months. In his first round back at the Hero World Challenge in December, Zalatoris shot a 9-over 81. He has struggled badly and he stressed that getting back into his groove is easier said than done.
As a result, many experts thought Kim would not break 80 in Friday’s LIV golf debut.
After all, no one had seen LeBron James play since before he won his first NBA title with the Miami Heat.
Still, Kim’s opening match was quite a struggle.
On the 427 yard par 4 5th, Kim hit a cold-blooded shank. From just outside the fairway.
This was his second bogey of the day, but he came back with a birdie on the next hole, the long 6th par-4. He rolled in 25 feet.
Kim then finished the round with five more bogeys, putting her in last place at 54th place after 18 holes.
“Once he starts to feel good about himself, the talent is going to ooze out and it’s going to flow through him,” said Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf. on broadcast.
“Whatever happens today doesn’t really matter.” I told him on the first tee, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.”And that first step is his first swing. [Friday]”
Indeed, Kim has a long way to go before he re-enters the fray. After all, he was 14 shots off the pace at the end of the first round. Jon Rahm and Adrian Mellonk shot opening round 62s and are in the lead at 8 under.
However, Kim said afterwards that he was hoping for an even-par shot. He felt that unforced errors with the irons led to his first score of 76, which was “really disappointing”.
Still, Kim shouldn’t be too self-deprecating. His round should impress golf fans, as most expected him to do much worse.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
