How did Anthony Kim officially start his LIV career? With one hell of a shank!

Anthony Kim teed it up for the first time competitively in more than 4,000 days with the LIV Golf League but his start didn't go to plan.

Ben Smith

01 Mar 2024

How did Anthony Kim officially start his LIV career? With one hell of a shank! — How did Anthony Kim officially start his LIV career? With one hell of a…

We weren't sure what to expect with Anthony Kim, were we?

Professional golf's yeti has been AWOL for the last 12 years so there were bound to be a few cobwebs in his game.

In fairness to Kim, the start to his LIV Golf career in Jeddah career wasn't all bad, considering his critics thought he'd shoot north of 90.

Sure, there were a few wayward tee shots, and he wasn't super dialled in with his irons, but the short game looked in surprisingly good nick.

"Can I get a mulligan?" Anthony Kim's first tee shot on LIV Golf did not go well

Evidence of that came at the par-3 third hole at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club when he managed a great par save early doors.

Then came the fifth hole where Kim, now 38 years old, managed to hit an excellent hosel rocket. This thing was magnificent. A thing of beauty.

Tiger Woods hit a fantastic shank a few weeks ago on his PGA Tour return and there was a chance Kim could've been playing on that circuit.

Still, he chose LIV, and here we are.

"That is an all-world shank," commented Jerry Foltz in the broadcast booth. "If you're gonna shank it, you might as well do it right."

David Feherty was quick to remind viewers that Kim would be feeling an intense amount of pressure.

"It certainly matters to him [that he plays well]," he said. "Over the next few rounds [and] when he gets some more golf under his belt, I think that'll be much better barometer for us to know how he feels.

"You can't overestimate the pressure he is under. He is under the most intense pressure to go out there after 11 or 12 years off [and go in] right back in at the deep end. It's pretty remarkable to see."

Before you take a look at the shank, we should probably let you know that Kim managed to salvage a great bogey with a putt from more than 25ft.

Watch the shank here: