Anthony Kim makes bold claim after huge world ranking leap

Anthony Kim says it is “only a matter of time” before he starts contending in golf tournaments again after making a significant move up the Official World Golf Ranking.

The American stunned the golf world at the beginning of the year when he was tempted into a return to competitive action by LIV Golf.

And while it hasn’t gone entirely his way – he played the season as a wildcard and finished in the top 40 of the 54-man league just once all year – Kim remains optimistic looking ahead to 2025.

He finished in a tie for 37th at last week’s Asian Tour International Series event in Qatar – his first competitive made cut since the 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational – and the 39-year-old believes his game is “ahead of schedule” and that he’ll be back “contending on Sundays” soon enough.

“I know a lot of people have probably seen my last year and don’t think that’s possible, but I think it’s going to happen,” he told Gulf News.

“I 100 per cent believe in myself,” he added. “It’s just a matter of time.”

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Kim, though, still doesn’t know where he will be playing his golf next year. His wildcard status protected him from relegation out of the Saudi-based league, which now must decide whether to keep him on in the same capacity, assign him to a team, or release him altogether.

Earlier reports had suggested LIV Golf and Kim had reached an agreement, but if they have the player is keeping it to himself.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “I’ll just let whatever news comes out come from LIV Golf.”

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Kim’s positive week in the Middle East – in which he finished 1-under-par, 15 shots behind champion and fellow LIV player Peter Uihlein – means he has made a quite the leap in golf’s world rankings.

LIV Golf events do not carry ranking points, so Kim’s missed cut at the International Series event in Macau in March saw him return at 4,221st. He had dropped to 4,595th by last week, but has now leapt 2,281 spots to 2,314th – one of the largest moves in OWGR history.

Kim spent a number of weeks in the world’s top 10 in his prime, and was as high as sixth following a tie for third at the 2008 Tour Championship.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor