Since being presented with an opportunity to make his full-time return to pro golf at the start of 2024 as a wildcard in the LIV Golf League, positive signs have continued to appear for Anthony Kim.
The American has gradually improved his results, he told his story to the world - relieving some kind of weight from his shoulders, and the three-time PGA Tour winner has earned a significant amount of money along the way.
After coming back from 12 years out ahead of LIV Golf Jeddah in February, claiming that he had "barely touched a club" during that time, Kim began life in the 54-hole league with finishes of 53rd, 50th, and 53rd. It would later emerge that he was playing without fitted clubs to begin with but still managed a five-under round at LIV Hong Kong.
A couple more disappointing weeks followed in Adelaide (54th after withdrawing) and Singapore (T52) before a degree of noticeable progress was made. Starting on home soil in Houston and making his way onto Nashville and Andalucia, Kim ended T48th, T46th, and T49th.
Speaking to LIV Golf about his form this season prior to LIV Golf UK, Kim said: “Obviously extremely disappointed with my finish in Spain, but I’ve come a long way in a short period of time. I’m hoping that it keeps trending in that direction, and I could start seeing some better results.
“I'm committing to more shots. I would say I was probably committing to 50% of my shots until Nashville, and then probably I would say it's closer to 65, 70%. And that's kind of where I'm at right now."
At JCB Golf and Country Club, England, Kim matched his best result of the season at that time (T46) after rounds of five-over, two-under, and even par left him on three-over and alongside Lee Westwood and Brendan Steele.
Then, at LIV Golf Greenbrier, Kim produced his best result of 2024 once more via a 36th-place finish on six-under for the tournament. Kim's final round five-under equalled his lowest total from 29 rounds.
To finish his debut return season off, the Californian recorded a T42nd result at LIV Golf Chicago in the Individual Championship round thanks to a four-over-par total score.
With a guaranteed $50,000 for finishing between 54th and 52nd - moving up to $60,000 for 51st-49th - Kim's earning power really began to gather more momentum over the second half of the campaign, in particular.
And that does not take into account the reported $7.5 million signing bonus Kim is said to have agreed when first opting to join the Saudi-backed league. LIV is believed to have offered that figure as it almost matched up with the insurance policy Kim took out in the event of a career-ending injury before he left the game in 2012.
All in all, Kim has definitely banked $928,417 from 11 LIV Golf events this season - with a potential $7.5 million stacked on top. Simply on tournament earnings alone, though, the Los Angeles-born player sits 55th out of 58 men in the LIV Golf money list.
Kim ended the year just $71,833 behind his fellow LIV Wildcard, Hudson Swafford ($1,000,250), who played two events more, but a mammoth $33,826,071 in lieu of 2024 LIV Golf League champion, Jon Rahm - who has accumulated a grand total of $34,754,488 this term as a result of winning LIV Golf Chicago and - consequently - the season title.
Below is a breakdown of Anthony Kim's earnings in LIV Golf throughout 2024.
| Event | Finish | Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| Jeddah | 53rd | $50,000 |
| Hong Kong | 50th | $60,000 |
| Miami | 53rd | $50,000 |
| Adelaide | 54th (WD) | $50,000 |
| Singapore | T52nd | $50,000 |
| Houston | T48th | $90,000 |
| Nashville | T46th | $123,750 |
| Andalucia | T49th | $60,000 |
| UK | T46th | $122,667 |
| Greenbrier | 36th | $145,000 |
| Chicago | T42nd | $127,000 |
| Row 11 - Cell 0 | Row 11 - Cell 1 | TOTAL |
| Row 12 - Cell 0 | Row 12 - Cell 1 | $928,417 |
