We now have a few more details surrounding the mystery of Anthony Kim, the “next Tiger Woods” before Rory McIlroy came along as the latest in that unending search. Kim was a super talent and a superstar, competing at the game’s biggest events in his 20s and drawing enormous galleries. Then a spate of injuries stunted his ascendance, and then he completely disappeared.
An 8-figure insurance policy may explain Anthony Kim’s disappearance from golf
“Where is Anthony Kim and what is he doing?” are questions that many golf watchers have been asking for a couple years now. A Sports Illustrated report provides some answers and details as to why Kim, once the next big star in golf, has become a total recluse and may never be heard from again.
Harry How
Despite his absence, Kim is still top of mind for many golf fans and media -- he was a force on and off the course, and his total disappearance from public life only amplified the chatter, speculation and persistent desire to know just what the hell was going on with him. Thanks to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Alan Shipnuck, we may have a few more answers as to why Kim, now reportedly healthy, has been so quiet and is so reluctant to return to competitive golf.
Kim maintained his silence for the story, refusing to go on the record. His IMG reps also rebuffed on-the-record inquiries, although we did get a tiny morsel of info from his agent Clarke Jones last April, when he told GolfChannel.com that Kim was “not living under a bridge, he’s not living in a box.” There were no other details, and it seemed even his reps had little info or little contact.
But Shipnuck talked to several sources, public and anonymous, in the game and off-the-course friends or acquaintances around Dallas. Much of the most revelatory information in the report comes from one unnamed source, a close friend of Kim’s in Dallas. And according to this friend, and an IMG source, one reason we haven’t seen Kim pop up at a Tour event to try and get back in the game may be an eight-figure insurance policy. From Shipnuck’s report:
An IMG source pegged its value at $10 million, tax-free. Kim’s friend, who has had financial discussions with him, says, “It’s significantly north of that. Not quite 20, but close. That is weighing on him, very much so. He’s trying to weigh the risk of coming back. The way he’s phrased it to me is, ‘If I take one swing on Tour, the policy is voided.’”
So maybe Kim, whose career was derailed by thumb and wrist injuries and then an Achilles’ tendon tear, doesn’t think he could ever approach that kind of sum if he started playing again.
There’s also a confidence problem -- Kim’s game started getting loose when he had to overcompensate for the thumb and wrist trouble. He wasn’t the same player who could hang with Tiger Woods and picked up two wins in marquee events at Congressional and Quail Hollow. He may never be the same guy who became the American star of the 2008 Ryder Cup.
Aside from the confidence question, there’s another mental side to the mystery surrounding Kim: he might just not care about or want to play golf anymore. Part of what made Kim such a fascinating star was all the drama that followed him. Crusty, stodgy old Tour pros and media types would huff about his drinking and partying, most notably the story of Kim ordering bottle after bottle of champagne, including one for $25,000 he ultimately poured on the floor, at a Vegas club just before he withdrew from a nearby Vegas tournament.
According to the anonymous friend, Kim even took the custom rims off his Rolls Royce Ghost to be "more incognito."
That lifestyle reportedly kept up after he was out of the game, and Shipnuck dropped in to Dallas bars and Kim’s favorite strip club searching for more details on him. He’s apparently become even more of a recluse, however, mostly showing up at a private high-stakes card game at the Ritz and avoiding many of the bars and clubs he used to pull up to in his Bentley and/or Rolls Royce. According to the anonymous friend, Kim even took the custom rims off his Rolls Royce Ghost to be “more incognito.” The story dives into many of his off-course exploits, his lifestyle and the interest that even Tour pros, like Ryder Cup partner Phil Mickelson, still have in the whereabouts and condition of the former phenom.
Golf needs more animated stars like Kim and players who have a personality off the course that might draw younger fans. “AK” drew many of them as he came onto the scene, and so his total retreat from public life only made most golf fans more interested in where he was and what he was doing. Who knows if he’ll ever try to come back. Despite his continued refusal to talk to anyone or appear publicly, we at least now have a few more details as to where he’s gone, what he’s doing and why we may never see him on tour again.
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