anthony kim completes stunning comeback with Adelaide win that moved Tiger Woods
Anthony Kim capped a remarkable return to competitive golf on Sunday (ET), firing a closing 9-under 63 to win the Adelaide tournament — his first victory since 2010. The 40-year-old’s emotional run to the trophy and the personal story behind it drew notice from one of the sport’s defining figures, who said the win hit him on both a golfing and human level.
Woods on why the victory resonated
Tiger Woods watched the finish unfold and weighed what Kim’s run meant beyond a leaderboard. For Woods, the comeback represented more than a scorecard: it was a reminder of resilience in the face of career- and life-altering setbacks. He pointed to Kim’s arc — the talent that once electrified the game, the years away, and the slow, deliberate process of rebuilding — as the reason the win felt so powerful.
Woods’s reaction underscored a broader sympathy within the sport for stories of recovery and reinvention. Kim’s performance on the final day — holing putts under pressure, producing a string of birdies late in the round and closing with a composed par at 18 — provided a dramatic, visible punctuation to a lengthy personal odyssey. For many watching, the moment bridged the athlete they remembered and the man he has become.
A comeback nearly two decades in the making
Kim’s career once seemed destined for sustained stardom. He won multiple times as a young professional, rose into the world top 10 and was a standout on a major team stage. Then injuries, personal struggles and time away from competition removed him from view for years. He has spoken openly about battles with addiction and the difficult period that followed his last tour victory.
His path back to competitive play was gradual and, at times, uncertain. He only returned to professional golf after a long absence, working his way through qualifying and smaller fields just to regain a place among peers. Even after securing status, early results offered little indication this day would come. But Kim insisted the work continued behind the scenes: relearning the game, adjusting to modern equipment and rebuilding competitive confidence.
That preparation paid off in Adelaide. Kim birdied four straight holes in the middle of his round and rolled in several long putts down the stretch. He finished three shots clear, with some of the sport’s top players in pursuit. When asked afterward, he framed the victory as catharsis: each putt felt like another step out of the lows he had trudged through for years.
What this means for Kim and the game
Beyond the headline of a return-to-winner’s-circle, the victory is likely to reshape conversations around career arcs and second acts in professional golf. For Kim, it is a personal vindication: evidence that a prolonged absence need not be an endpoint. For rivals and observers, it is a reminder that experience, talent and resolve can converge in surprising ways.
The win also injects energy into the season ahead. It adds narrative weight to future fields and raises expectations for how Kim might compete when big-money purses and marquee matchups loom. At the same time, the emotional dimension of the story — a player who has publicly acknowledged struggle and credited family with pulling him back from the brink — gives the result a resonance that extends beyond scoring lines.
Kim framed the victory simply: it was therapeutic, a clearing of long-buried struggles made visible by success. For fans and fellow professionals who remembered his meteoric rise, the Adelaide finish provided a rare and satisfying full-circle moment. For Woods and others who understand the grind of comeback, it was a human story as much as a sporting one — proof that, sometimes, the hardest battles yield the sweetest wins.
