Anthony Kim's journey to hell and back leads him to LIV glory in Adelaide

Anthony Kim's LIV Adelaide victory an inspiring chapter in one of golf's most harrowing storiesTopic:Golf8m ago8 minutes agoSun 15 Feb 2026 at 7:27pmAnthony Kim came from well back to produce an unlikely and inspirational win at LIV Adelaide. (Getty Images: Mark Brake)abc.net.au/news/anthony-kim-liv-adelaide-win-jon-rahm/106347960Link copiedShareShare articleUnlike others, Anthony Kim is not describing his climb from suicidal drug addict to LIV Golf's Adelaide champion as the sport's greatest comeback. But he does want his feat to inspire."When I was in rehab, that was my goal," Kim said after chasing down Spanish great Jon Rahm to win in Adelaide on Sunday."So absolutely my goal is to inspire the people that are struggling because I feel like the world needs more of that."Kim said his lesson was simple: "Don't f***ing quit. That's it. Don't f***ing quit."Loading Twitter contentHe is a one-time golf boy wonder but also a one-time drug and alcohol addict who stopped playing a dozen years ago.The 40-year-old, who teed off on Sunday at the Grange a whopping five shots adrift of Spain's former world number one, shot a flawless 9-under 63 to finish 23-under and overtake Rahm (20-under).Kim's redemption round featured a tournament-defining stretch of five birdies in six holes from the 12th, and he fired nine in total to collect the $US4 million ($5.7 million) winner's cheque.The Californian burst onto the global golf scene after turning pro in 2006. He holds the record for most birdies in a round at the US Masters (11), is a three-time US PGA Tour winner, and a Ryder Cup champion.But in 2014, he stopped playing amid drug and alcohol addiction. It took him almost a decade to get clean."I wasn't the best person, the best partner, the best whatever you want to call it, the best son, I could be when I was younger," Kim said."But who I am today is a completely different person.'With God, my family, my sobriety being the key things to my life, I can go as far as I want."Loading Twitter contentNow sober for three years, Kim returned to golf with LIV in 2024 as a reserve but lost his card at the end of last season.He scraped back as a reserve via an international play-off and, this week, joined a LIV team for the first time.Kim triumphed at an Adelaide tournament attracting more than 115,000 spectators, the biggest crowd of any Australian golf event.On winning, Kim hugged his four-year-old daughter Bella and wife Emily as tears flowed on the 18th green.What would he tell Bella, later in life, of his struggles?"I'm going to try to leave a lot of details out," Kim said."But I will tell her that before she came into this world, I didn't feel any purpose in my life."Whether you have a lot of money, whether you have a lot of success in your life, you still can feel lonely and feel like the world is against you."Loading Twitter contentKim's triumph was met with universal acclaim from his rivals, with Australian veteran Marc Leishman summing up the reaction."He was a gun," Leishman said."He had almost had an aura about him, somewhat for his golf, somewhat for his partying."The place he got to and how close he was to not being here — I'm not talking about in Adelaide, I'm talking about not being on this planet."I hope that people realise how it's a fairytale, it really is. Not just golf, but life."Leishman and his fellow Australians fell short in their quest to become the first local winner of Adelaide's individual LIV crown.Lucas Herbert (16-under) was best-placed, followed by Leishman and Cam Smith, both on 15-under, with Elvis Smylie, the 23-year-old who won the individual title on his LIV debut last weekend in Saudi Arabia, 9-under.The quartet's combined feats at least helped their all-Australian Ripper GC win the teams event by two strokes from Rahm's Legion XIII.AAPPosted 8m ago8 minutes agoSun 15 Feb 2026 at 7:27pmShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionSportChinese star takes swipe at organisers for not accommodating her scheduleLIVE