He’s in Dallas, buying Patron for friends at a trendy Uptown bar. He’s playing poker at the Ritz-Carlton. He’s hitting balls on the range at TPC Craig Ranch and/or Lakewood Country Club. He’s at a pet store in Plano. He’s watching Nancy Lieberman’s charity tournament. He’s between gates at DFW Airport. He’s courtside for the Mavs.
He’s … everywhere. And absolutely nowhere.
Once a legit threat to Tiger Woods as the brash, behemoth face of American golf, Dallas resident Anthony Kim is anywhere except where he’s supposed to be: Teeing it up as one of the favorites in this week’s British Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
That’s because he hasn’t played in a professional tournament since holing out from the fairway for an eagle on the final hole of the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship in 2012, then withdrawing. Then disappearing.
He was 27.
Kim, who was born in California and attended college at Oklahoma, was Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day hero Clint Longley, Rangers’ 18-year-old sensation David Clyde and Mavericks’ one-time All-Star Josh Howard rolled into one. He was good. But before he was great, poof, he was gone.
Said Woods of Kim, “One of the purest ball-strikers I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Said Phil Mickelson, “He had the tools and the tenacity to be one of our all-time greats.”
Last September, Golf.com surveyed current players, asking them which individual on the PGA Tour had the most natural talent. Kim, a guy who hasn’t taken a meaningful swing in seven years, received the sixth-most votes.
He was supposed to be Jordan Spieth, not Joe Charbonneau-meets-Jeremy Lin-meets-Buster Douglas. Golf’s next great U-turned into D.B. Cooper.
So, what happened?
First, Kim teased us. With long, majestic, towering cuts that would make Lee Trevino salivate, he burst onto the scene in 2006 as a 21-year-old rookie and ramped up in 2008 with a win, a Top 10 finish at the U.S. Open, another win and then a legendary performance in the Ryder Cup. Brandishing his diamond-encrusted “AK” belt buckle that was as big as a hubcap, Kim persuaded U.S. captain Paul Azinger to send him out first in Sunday’s crucial singles matches. The Americans, who had lost five of the previous six events, needed a quick start.
“I’m gonna whip his ass for you,” Kim reportedly told Azinger on the first tee, loud enough for his European opponent to hear. That player? None other than Euro icon Sergio Garcia.
Kim birdied the first three holes, obliterated Garcia, 5 & 4, and led the United States to a rousing victory.
Said Azinger, “Not only was he one of our best players, that kid was our emotional catalyst. He’s not afraid of anyone, or anything.”
A year later at the Presidents Cup in San Francisco, reporters saw Kim returning to the U.S. hotel at 4 a.m. cradling two models and three bottles. Five hours later he hit his first tee shot in a singles match against Robert Allenby and went on to rout the Aussie, 5 & 3, in an American victory.
Groused Allenby, “Maybe we should all take the theory of Anthony Kim. Get home at four in the morning, and then go shoot six under.”
Kim flirted with The Masters in 2010 – finishing third – and set a record that still stands with 11 birdies during a second-round 65 in 2009. He fashioned two Top 10 finishes across the pond, coming in seventh in 2008 and fifth in 2011 at The British Open.
Anthony Kim morphed into “AK,” complete with a convertible Bentley, a mansion in Preston Hollow and the omnipresent Nike swooshes. With substance to back his style, he was a lock to win multiple majors and would on Thursday be announced in Ireland as a former “Champion Golfer of the Year.”
But then came an injury. And another. And a bushel barrel more. Then – maybe – a hefty insurance payout. Followed by more conspiracy theories than Bigfoot playing Fortnite with The Loch Ness Monster in Area 51.
It started with tendinitis in his left thumb. Then his wrist. The hand injuries compromised his grip and swing, leading to a damaged rotator cuff and torn labrum. The pain traveled down his back, ultimately blowing out of his body in the form of a torn Achilles.
Seven surgeries. One savvy strategy.
While in Norman, he’d mimicked what many NFL first-round prospects do: He took out an insurance policy on himself. The policy reportedly covered what’s called “loss of value” from an injury, not mere disability. And Kim had built a lot of value to lose: In his first pro tournament he won $300,000. In 2008, he was sixth on the money list at $4.7 million. He earned $6 million from Nike. During his comet of a six-year career, he earned $20 million on and off the course.
But then he couldn’t play. So the insurer had to pay. A policy from Lloyd’s of London that cost Kim around $500,000 paid out in the neighborhood of $20 million. Though he will occasionally pose for a photo with a fan or stop for an autograph, his last sit-down interview was in 2015. At that time he denied the rumors: That the insurance payout mandated Kim cannot play golf, or else forfeit said payout.
So did injuries slice the career of one of the game’s most promising players short? Or did a shrewd bet against himself allow Kim to earn a healthy career of winning by not playing?
Accidentally bumped into by a reporter in Hollywood last April, Kim sported an arm-sleeve of tattoos, hair grown to the middle of his back and a shrug. Asked the status of his golf game, he replied:
“Um … non-existent.”
While Americans Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Gary Woodland, Woods and Spieth go after The Open in Ireland, Kim’s whereabouts will continue to spread through secondhand stories and random sightings, and his talent and potential will ultimately soar to mythological proportions.
Wherever he is and whatever he’s doing, Anthony Kim – golf’s yeti – is missed. And, to think, he’s only 34.
