A. Kim begins LIV career, pro golf return with 76, shank

Before Anthony Kim began his first competitive round of golf in over a decade on Friday in Saudi Arabia, LIV Golf’s CEO, Greg Norman, offered this:

“A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” Norman told Kim.

Kim’s first step? A 6-over 76 in Friday’s opening round of LIV Jeddah, which has Kim last in the 54-player field by two shots. He’s also 14 shots back of 18-hole co-leaders Jon Rahm and Adrian Meronk.

Kim bogeyed his opening hole, the par-5 18^th, before running off a string of pars. However, as he prepared to hit his approach at the par-4 fifth, Kim got distracted, Norman claimed, and shanked the shot.

“It was the drone … and he just cold-popped it,” Norman said.

Kim would bogey that hole, too, but he bounced back by sinking a 25-footer for birdie at the next. That would be Kim’s only circle on the card, as he’d also bogey each of the next three holes.

It’s been 12 years since Kim competed in professional golf – the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship, which Kim withdrew from because of a left Achilles injury that required surgery a month later. Kim still hasn’t hit another shot on the PGA Tour, and until now, he had largely remained out of the public eye.

“I said to him,” Norman recalled, “‘A.K., When you walk on that driving range, for the last 12 years, you’ve been hitting balls with amateurs – all due respect to those amateurs out there. Get on that driving range, get in the middle and listen to D.J. hit, listen to Jon Rahm hit, listen to Brooks hit; the sound is different, and that sound … is going to ignite your senses again.’”

Norman added: “When he starts feeling comfortable with himself, he’ll be oozing the talent and it’s going to start flooding for him.”