Anthony Kim’s 2nd pro debut: Good, bad, or something in between?

Anthony Kim made his professional golf re-debut under a media coverage that many major champions would love. Kim took to the course at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in search of a legendary comeback after no less than 12 years of complete absence.

Naturally, the first round of the LIV Golf Jeddah saw a nervous and rusty Anthony Kim. However, Kim showed signs of retaining much of his talent and left several quality shots on the Royal Greens.

Starting on the 18th hole, Kim bogeyed the first. He then parred four holes in a row, only to bogey the 5th. On the 6th, he made his first and only birdie of the round with an excellent putt from over 10 feet.

The rest of the round saw Kim make five more bogeys, including three in a row between the 7th and 9th. His final score was 6 over 70 and he will start the second round ranked 54th on the leaderboard.

After the first 18 holes, Adrian Meronk and Jon Rahm lead the LIV Golf Jeddah on 8 under. Charl Schwartzel, Bryson DeChambeau and Joaquin Niemann follow closely on 7 under. Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka is seven shots off the leaders.

Anthony Kim on his LIV Golf debut

After finshing his round, Kim said the following:

“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.”

Undoubtedly, both Anthony Kim and his fans expected a better result for this first round. However, from a realistic point of view, a score of 6 over par is a more than remarkable result for a player who has been out of competitive golf for 12 years.

To put it in perspective, double major champion and 12-time PGA Tour winner Bubba Watson has played golf at the highest level uninterrupted for the past 18 years. Yet, he played his first round in Jeddah with a score of 4 over.