‘I don’t see why I can’t make it to the top again’ - Anthony Kim

Anthony Kim rocketed 644 places up the rankings to 203rd in the world following his fairytale at LIV Golf Adelaide.

The 40-year-old former Ryder Cup star and world number six came from five strokes behind Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to win by three shots from the Spaniard with a stunning nine-under 63.

It was a rare TV success for LIV Golf, which has struggled to gain attention for its events, though LIV Golf Adelaide remains easily its most successful tour stop, generating almost half the tour’s reported revenue in 2024

Kim proved many wrong by coming back from drug and alcohol problems and more than 12 years in the wilderness to win his first tournament in 16 years.

But whether his redemption arc is enough to generate significant US TV viewership figures for LIV Golf remains to be seen, even if he breaks into the top 100 in the world who will be invited to play May’s PGA Championship at Aronimink near Philadelphia.

“Well, I know the mainstream media isn’t going to pick it up, but for the people that do hear about it, I want to be a good example,” Kim said of the traction his story has generated.

"I would say I wasn’t the best person, the best partner, the best son, whatever you want to call it, when I was younger.

"But who I am today is a completely different person, with God, my family, and my sobriety being the key things in my life.”

As for the future, he added: "Nothing’s holding me back. I just have to keep working 1pc better every day.

"That mindset is something I’m going to carry with me to the day I die. So I don’t see why I can’t make it to the top again.”

There have already been calls from some commentators for Augusta National to send an invitation to Kim, who made a record 11 birdies in seven under 65 en route to 20th place in 2009 before finishing third behind Phil Mickelson in 2010.

Remarkably, neither Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, nor the winner Collin Morikawa was asked about Kim’s achievement at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Morikawa won for the first time in more than two years to jump from 19th to fifth in the world, while Scheffler’s closing 63 gave him a tie for third and his 18th consecutive top-10 finish on the PGA Tour.

While McIlroy shot a bogey-free 64 to tie for 14th, the gap with Scheffler in the world rankings is now 8.78 points.
Shane Lowry remains 29th in the world after his excellent tie for eighth.

Both McIlroy and Lowry will be looking forward to returning to Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles this week for the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational, the second signature event of the season.

McIlroy was left to rue three double bogeys and a triple bogey in the first three rounds, but he believes he’s knocked some of the winter rust off his game.

Last year’s Genesis Invitational was played at Torrey Pines as Riviera dealt with the wildfires that devastated the Pacific Palisades area.

“I think we're all looking forward to getting back there,” he said of Riviera, where he has three top 10s in eight appearances but no wins. “It's one of the best tracks we play all year.”

Lowry will be hooping for a change of fortune at Riviera, where his best finish is a tie for 14th in 2023.

There are no Irish in the field for the DP World Tour’s Magical Kenya Open at Karen Country Club, but there is a strong Irish presence in South Africa for the HotelPlanner Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Durban Open.

Max Kennedy leads the Irish challenge following his runner-up finish in the NTT Data Pro-Am at Fancourt on Sunday and is joined at Durban Country Club by Conor Purcell, Gary Hurley and Liam Nolan with James Sugrue on the reserve list.

Leona Maguire, meanwhile, plays the first of three Asian events in a row when she makes her 2026 debut in the Honda LPGA Thailand at Siam Country Club