Anthony Kim at LIV Golf’s Andalucia occasion in July.
David Cannon/Getty Photographs
For the primary time in 13 years, Anthony Kim is rising up the Official World Golf Rankings and it’s the most important leap of his profession.
Kim made the reduce on this week’s Asian Tour Worldwide Collection occasion in Qatar and fired a closing spherical 71 to complete in a tie for thirty seventh Sunday.
Which will sound like a lot, nevertheless it’s Kim’s first made reduce in his comeback that began earlier this yr. Kim’s comeback has primarily been in LIV Golf occasions, which not solely don’t characteristic a reduce but additionally don’t award OWGR factors. The one different OWGR-recognized match Kim has teed it up this season was the Worldwide Collection Macau occasion in March the place he missed the reduce.
Thus, the .36805 factors Kim earns for the end this week are the primary OWGR factors he’s earned in 12 years, since a T42 end on the 2012 Honda Traditional. The 1.63 factors he garnered that week have been really not sufficient to maintain him from falling from a hundred and fifteenth to 116th within the rankings that week, however whereas he earned simply greater than a fifth of the factors this week, the ensuing leap in rating was way more important.
When the brand new rating comes out on Monday, Kim will see his rating, the 4595th-ranked participant on the planet getting into the week, leap 2,281 spots to No. 2,314. Whereas his rating remains to be means off his peak from 2008 when he reached No. 6 on the planet after the Tour Championship, the leap remains to be one of many largest within the rankings historical past.
Throughout his quite a few comebacks, Tiger Woods has routinely made several-hundred spot jumps after a few of his first occasions again. Earlier this yr, Nick Dunlap made a OWGR leap of greater than 4,000 spots when he gained in his first PGA Tour made reduce as an novice, the most important leap within the historical past of the rankings.
For Kim, it’s the primary time he’s improved his rating since 2011, his final full season on the PGA Tour.
Kim disappeared for 11 years from aggressive golf, growing a cult-hero-like standing earlier than he resurfaced in March of this yr, signing a take care of LIV Golf as one of many league’s Wildcard gamers. The 39-year-old performed in 11 LIV Golf occasions this season, along with his finest end coming at LIV Golf Greenbrier with a Thirty sixth-place displaying in a 54-man discipline. He earned no factors within the season-long standings.
The six-time PGA Tour winner’s contract with LIV was reportedly for one yr.
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