After a twelve-year hiatus, Anthony Kim not just left playing the game but also quit following it. He is now gearing up for LIV Golf Miami which will be his third start in the league. Before the tournament at Trump National Doral, the former Ryder Cup star revealed that he was not aware of the fact that Tiger Woods had won the 2019 Masters and Brooks Koepka had consecutive major victories under his belt!
During the Thursday pre-event press conference, Kim was asked if he was aware of what was going around the golfing fraternity when he quit the sport for 12 years. To which, the 38-year-old replied that Dustin Johnson enlightened him about Brooke Koepka having won ‘back-to-back majors’ just a day before in a practice session.
“I probably watched nine holes of golf when I wanted to fall asleep. But I didn’t watch much golf. I just found out from DJ yesterday playing a practice round with him yesterday that Brooks [Koepka] won back-to-back Majors which is awesome. But I had no clue that that happened,” Kim said.
After Kim revealed his lack of awareness regarding Koepka’s major wins, he was asked if he knew about Tiger Woods coming back and winning at the 2019 Masters. The former Ryder Cup star revealed that he had vague knowledge about the same but did not know the details of it.
“Where I was in my life I really wasn’t focused on golf. I definitely heard that it happened. But I mean… you know going through some of the things I’ve gone through in my life, I wasn’t f focused on golf,” Kim said.
Anthony Kim’s Health Struggles That Might’ve Caused The Golf Gap
Back in 2012, the Ryder Cup star suffered an Achilles tendon injury which shortened his career. Although he was said to be out of competition for around 9 to 12 months, the hiatus extended to 12 years. Reports suggested that he would have received around 10 million in insurance money if he chose not to play golf ever again.
That was not all, recently, Anthony Kim spoke to David Feherty recalling his addictive habits that resulted in him distancing himself from the game of golf. He stated that after the career-ending injury, he “literally doesn’t remember” anything as he was fighting multiple addictions.
The Journey Back with @AnthonyKim_Golf and @Fehertwit is now live
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— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) April 2, 2024
During his peak, around 12 years back, Kim had to undergo multiple surgeries. Be it a spinal cord fusion or surgical procedures on his shoulder and hands, he had a really tough time.
Just eight months ago, while playing a round of golf with his wife, the golfer ended up breaking his ankle. This forced him into another four-month recovery period.
Recently, Anthony Kim spoke in a pre-tournament interview for LIV Golf Miami. According to him, during his 12-year hiatus, he did not care much about who won golf tournaments or what was going on in the sport as there were other bigger issues happening the world that caught his eye.
“I didn’t care about if somebody won a golf tournament. There’s so many other big issues going on in the world that golf is such a small part of it. And obviously, for all of us, it gives us a great platform to be able to speak to a lot large group of people. But at the same time it’s just golf!”
Anthony Kim will be next seen at LIV Golf Miami. Although expecting a win from him is far-fetched, but can he finish higher on the leaderboard this time? It will be decided on Sunday after he completes his play at Trump National Doral.
