Could Anthony Kim Really Be A Major Championship Contender Again?
It has been suggested by Phil Mickelson that Anthony Kim not only deserves to play in the Majors again but also that he could win one... but what do we think?
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'Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's tour experts to share their honest opinions on the biggest subjects in the game. This week, it's all about Anthony Kim and his chances of Major glory.
His triumph at LIV Golf Adelaide was as surprising as it was well-received by planet golf, but there was very little evidence to suggest a victory was on the horizon across his first two comeback seasons after a 12-year hiatus.
Yet, it happened in Australia off the back of Kim organizing his own return to LIV via the Promotions event in January and a decent display in Riyadh to kick off the year earlier this month.
With hardware in his trophy cabinet for the first time in 16 years, fans on social media are now calling for Kim to receive an invite into The Masters in case he doesn't qualify.
Meanwhile, Phil Mickelson has said it would be great for the 40-year-old to be given exemptions into all four Major championships this year off the back of his LIV success.
Lefty, who has won six Majors since turning pro in 1992, even went as far as saying he wouldn't be surprised to see Kim win one of the four big championships before calling time on his career.
Across a five-year span between 2007 and 2011 where he teed it up 15 times in Majors, Kim managed a best result of third at the 2010 Masters. He recorded two further top-10s and missed the cut on four occasions.
At this stage, it would be a tall ask for Kim to even qualify as No.203 in the world. Reaching either the US Open or Open Championship is certainly reasonable via qualifying, but The Masters is invite only and Kim would likely have to make up another 140 spots or so to book his tee time.
Alternatively, breaking into the world's top-100 should be enough for the former University of Oklahoma golfer to try and improve his poor record at the PGA Championship.
Kim (left) and Phil Mickelson walking along during the 2011 Open Championship - Kim finished T5th
But should the five-time pro winner find himself in the field at The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open or The Open Championship, would he have a legitimate shot at success?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments box below. Meanwhile, our tour experts have had their say.
Kim’s story has been truly remarkable and his comeback win is a moment I’ll likely never forget. Thanks to the 23 OWGR points he has earned, he has moved to within touching distance of the top-200 and an invitation into the PGA Championship now seems a very sensible idea as a LIV Golf tournament winner.
The PGA of America, which runs the US arm of the Ryder Cup, has obvious history with AK, and it even sent out a post on X to congratulate him. The championship is struggling with its identity and interest compared to the other three showpiece events in the men’s game, and it always offers up invitations to fill out its large field.
Kim in the field, making his first Major start since the 2011 PGA Championship, seems like a no-brainer to me. It would drive TV ratings and while some might call it a publicity stunt, it would be far from it. The 40-year-old just carded a bogey-free 63 to beat Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau in his first time back in real contention for 15 years.
Can Kim become a Major contender again? 100% yes. He has proven his work ethic can get him from propping up LIV’s leaderboards to topping them, and I think the confidence he must now have in his game coupled with his “1% better” each day mentally means he can have a golden few years ahead. Can he contend in Majors? Yes. Can he win a Major? Yes.
Whether he will is another question and qualifying for them isn’t exactly straightforward, but if we’ve learned anything these last two years it’s that Anthony Kim is not someone you should doubt.
Do I think Anthony Kim has a chance to contend at a Major championship? Yes. But that comes with a few caveats.
One, I didn't think he could have even won a LIV event a few months ago, so his rapid ascension means everyone is now surely reassessing what they believe Kim is capable of.
Two, most pros are capable of contending at one Major championship. The number of golfers who have enjoyed their 15 minutes of true fame at the four biggest events is as long as the proverbial piece of string.
I fully believe now that Kim could enjoy a run over one week. What I'd be interested to see is if he could do it regularly. And that is a very different question indeed.
Number three - in terms of caveats - is that I think he will have to do it over the next three years, maximum. We know his body has been through a lot over the course of his life and even the most disciplined 40-year-olds struggle to battle it out at Majors on a consistent basis.
If he hasn't put himself in position to at least have a chance of winning a Major before 2029, I really don't think it will happen for him.
The jump between a 'regular' tour event and a Major is a big one but, in my opinion, every player is capable of winning a big-four championship with their best game alone.
However, what makes winning a Major so difficult is the mental side of things. You may play your best game at the time, but if you can't hold it together, you aren't going to win.
Certainly, Kim has shown how tough he is mentally - not just with his win in Adelaide, where he took down the league's two biggest stars, but in all of the resilient work he has done since returning.
Therefore, that makes me think there is a small chance the 40-year-old could challenge for a Major at some point down the line, especially with his new lease of life and recent victory.
The problem is when you compare him to the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and others from the PGA Tour... I'm not making a dig at LIV, especially when DeChambeau, Koepka, Rahm and Smith have all won Majors in the last four years; however, a win for Kim in a 57-man event, and a top-10 at the Saudi International, doesn't suddenly warrant a Major-contender tag.
I loved watching Kim in Adelaide and felt that his win will be the feel-good story of 2026. For me, though, he needs to get at least another few months of consistent, strong results under his belt before even thinking about playing, and contending, in the Majors.
I'll be honest, I thought Anthony Kim had next to no chance of doing anything meaningful on the course when he was handed a wildcard spot on LIV Golf for the 2024 season. I've had to eat humble pie in the wake of his thrilling victory in Australia and I've written in depth about his redemption story, too.
His return to the winners' circle is one of the most impressive achievements in the history of professional golf, and yes, I'm aware of the magnitude of that statement.
Not long ago, he could barely walk into rehab and while he was playing in the Majors, he was taking trips to the toilet mid-round to consume drugs and/or alcohol. He's been to the very bottom, but his wife and child have helped bring him back from the brink.
He started playing decent golf towards the end of last year and he finished third at the LIV Golf promotions event in January to earn a place for the 2026 season.
In Australia, he produced a final-round 63 in the company of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, who took 11 more shots than Kim. And this wasn't LIV Golf Riyadh, with two men and a dog watching - it was proper golf in a proper atmosphere in front of tens of thousands of fans.
It's going to be very difficult for Kim to win a Major – not least because he doesn't have a spot in the field for any of them – but you could argue he's already done the hardest bit. Going from here to winning a Major seems far more achievable than returning to the winners' circle after an all-consuming drug and alcohol addiction.
He's 40 years old, so time isn't necessarily on his side, but we've seen Justin Rose play sublime golf into his mid-40s and Phil Mickelson won a Major at the age of 51. If Kim stays hungry, then why not? He's proved that on his day, he still has the ability to mix it with the best.
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