January 11, 2026; Lecanto, Florida, USA; Anthony Kim hits his third tee shot during the final round of the LIV Golf Black Diamond Ranch golf tournament at Black Diamond Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-Imagn Image Anthony Kim is riding high on the back of a tournament win ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Hong Kong event.
On Tuesday, two weeks after winning LIV Golf Adelaide, Kim admitted feeling a bit strange while speaking to reporters at Fanling’s Hong Kong Golf Club.
He said, “I had no idea what it was like to finish in the top spot. It was both familiar and unfamiliar.”
“Going into this week, I’m sure other people will have some expectations, but all I can do is do my best on every shot.”
Kim’s answer contains clichés straight out of the Golf 101 handbook. But before explaining why he did so, he offered a few more suggestions to reporters in attendance.
“Something I thought was ridiculous when I was younger, people told me to only do it once a day, but I never listened. I’m using that to my advantage in my 40s,” he said. “I think going through ups and downs has taught me resilience and how to put one foot in front of the other and keep going.”
Yuna Kim celebrated her storybook return to professional golf by coming from five strokes behind after three rounds to win at LIV Golf Adelaide on February 15.
He joined Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC team before the start of the second event of the 2026 season, replacing Patrick Reed full-time.
Once a rising star, he returned after 12 years in 2024 and played as a wild card the past two seasons. However, Yuna Kim was relegated after the 2025 season and had to go through a promotion event, and regained her league position by reducing her uniform number before rising to third place.
Kim, who won three times in six seasons on the PGA Tour in his 20s, underwent Achilles tendon surgery in 2012 and revealed that he underwent rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction during his hiatus from professional golf.
Family remains at the heart of Kim’s resurgence, which was evident when his daughter congratulated him on his victory in Adelaide.
“When she ran onto the green, it was, selfishly, one of the most special moments of my life,” he said. “I used to spend five or six hours putting on the green at my club, and it was always in the back of my mind that I got a letter telling me not to practice much and get off the green. I’ve seen other players’ families run to the green. I think I’ve seen (teammate Dustin Johnson) do that quite a bit.
“But that was my goal. I’m a recovering addict, but now I feel like I’m addicted to making it happen again. There’s nothing that can stop me from working to get to that point.”
–Field level media
