Anthony Kim’s early struggles upon his return to professional golf continued on Friday following an opening round of 76 at Hong Kong Golf Club in the latest round of LIV Golf competition.
In his second event since coming back from a 12-year hiatus, many of the themes from the American’s debut tournament in Jeddah persisted to frustrate him, including a poor start to the day and a lack of birdies.
Following his last-place finish at LIV Golf Jeddah less than seven days ago, Kim said: “Unfortunately, it’s still taking me a couple holes to get comfortable. I think most of my over-par scores are the first six holes. If I can just figure a way to get my mind right before I get out there, I think I’ll be in great shape.”
The 38-year-old is likely to still be working on that aspect of his game, though, after beginning his opening round at LIV Golf Hong Kong four-over through the first four holes.
Starting on 10 with a bogey, Kim double-bogeyed 11 before making making par on the three-shot 12th. He then carded a six on the par-5 13th – proving to be unlucky for him – prior to a long run of pars.
After eight inoffensive holes in a row, Kim made his only birdie of the day on the 288-yard par-4 fourth hole to gain a shot back on the field. His joy was short-lived, however, with consecutive bogeys on the following two holes and another on the ninth – his last of Friday’s first round.
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Kim and fellow wildcard player, Hudson Swafford – also on six-over – are not at the foot of the table after round one, though – far from it. Six-time Major champion, Phil Mickelson endured a torrid afternoon in Hong Kong as a result of a 10-over round at the tight par-70 course.
Mickelson carded three double-bogeys and four bogeys in his birdie-free outing of 80, making six on four occasions throughout the day.
One of the best left-handed golfers of all time began on the second and was four over for his opening nine holes before a couple more doubles – one of which arrived on the final hole – coming in unequivocally sealed a horrible day.
At the other end of the leaderboard, Stinger GC’s Dean Burmester and Fireballs GC’s Abraham Ancer have set the early pace on seven-under, one shot ahead of a six-man group that features the likes of Matt Jones, Eugenio Chacarra, and Harold Varner III.
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