‘I’m motivated by negativity’: Anthony Kim reveals ‘weird’ reaction to his big win

Ever since he shocked the golf world with his comeback victory at LIV Golf Adelaide, Anthony Kim has experienced an outpouring of support and well wishes.

In his press conference ahead of this week’s LIV event in Hong Kong, Kim spoke at length about the “amazing” experience and expressed gratitude for all the love sent his way in the aftermath of his win. He even divulged a timeless piece of advice he used to think was “nonsense” that became a key part of his comeback.

On the flip side, Kim also revealed that the surprising reason the wave of positive reactions he’s received has been “very weird” for him.

Kim explains why positive response to his LIV Adelaide win is ‘very weird’

Kim’s winning putt at LIV Adelaide dropped on Feb. 15, and this week’s LIV Hong Kong tournament is the first event since then. As a result, we hadn’t heard Kim speak in detail about his monumental victory beyond his post-win presser.

So when Kim joined teammate Dustin Johnson in the media center earlier this week, everyone was eager to hear his thoughts. And Kim spent considerable time detailing the massive amount of support he’s received over the past two weeks.

“I’ve had a lot of people reach out, especially through social media,” Kim said. “I try to answer as many messages as I can. I don’t message back the bad ones anymore. But the ones that are positive have had such an effect on me, just because I think whether it’s you, whether it’s your uncle, whether it’s your dad, whether it’s your child, everybody has issues. A few people talked about LIV and PGA Tour being divided, but it wasn’t about golf, it was about setting goals, being resilient and overcoming obstacles in your life.”

Overcoming obstacles is something Kim has excelled at in recent years. As he reminded reporters in his press conference, Kim is a recovering addict, who took off 12 years during the prime of his golf career.

That he returned to pro golf at all was a major accomplishment. The fact that he won a pro tournament, against Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau no less, is a historic achievement.

But Kim also disclosed that while he’s grateful for everyone’s support, the experience has been strange for one reason: he usually draws his competitive fire from negativity.

“It’s been amazing, the love and support I’ve gotten. I’m motivated by negativity, so it’s been very weird,” Kim said. “But I feel like a lot of people saw their own families, their own struggles in me, and I think that’s why it got kind of the reception that it did.”

He also detailed that part of his maturation process has involved working to change the way negativity impacts his life and alter the way he reacts to it.

“I used to be somebody that if you wronged me before, I would want to say something back to you, and I would never let it go,” he said. “But it’s like a gray — it’s gray to me. The people that have brought the negativity in my life, they don’t exist. I hate to say it, but I think I’m maturing because I don’t want to fight back with people that don’t like me or that don’t appreciate what I’m doing because that’s their life, right?”

Ultimately, the messages that have affected him most have been ones from other people struggling with addiction who have been inspired by Kim’s renaissance.

“I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I’ve been screwing up, but after watching that, I’m going to deal with my problems,” he said. “I have hundreds and thousands of messages like that. I would like to respond to every single one. I can’t, but I try to respond to them because they’re taking ownership of the issues that they created in their life. Some unfortunate circumstances happen, but bad decisions are a large part of the reason people are in bad spots, and I think everyone can relate to that.”

He continued: “Just seeing that other people are changing to better their life, better their family’s life is one of the reasons that I wanted to come back to golf.”

Anthony Kim relied on essential advice he used to think was ‘nonsense’

In the opening round of this week’s LIV Golf Hong Kong event, Kim showed that his fine form from LIV Adelaide was not a flash in the pan.

Kim fired a three-under 67 on Thursday, putting him T24 with three rounds to go. Heading into the second round, he’s one shot behind Rahm and three shots ahead of DeChambeau.

While everyone was curious how Kim would perform in his first start following his win, he tried not to let the noise get to him, as he explained ahead of the tournament.

“I think that coming into this week, obviously other people have certain expectations, but all I can do is try my best on every shot,” Kim said.

That strategy of taking golf and life one day at a time and trusting the slow improvement process is one Kim has relied on during his comeback. But it’s also advice he used to disregard.

“The thing that I thought were nonsense when I was a kid, when people said, ‘just take it one day at a time’ and I never listened, I’m using that as a 40-year-old to my advantage,” Kim said. “I think through my ups and downs, I’ve learned to be resilient and just put one foot in front of the other and just keep going.”

Another sign of Kim’s maturation is what he described as not only the best part of his win but also “one of the most special moments” of his life. That would be when his young daughter ran onto the green to celebrate his victory with him.

“When she ran out on to that green, that was — selfishly, that was one of the most special moments of my life,” Kim said. “When I used to putt for five, six hours on the green at the club I belonged to that sent me a letter to get off the green and not practice as much, that was always in the back of my mind. I’ve seen other players’ families run on to the green.”

He continued: “But that was my goal. I’m a recovering addict, but now I think I’m addicted to making that happen again. There’s nothing that’s going to stop me from working to get to that point.”

After Kim’s strong opening round in Hong Kong on Thursday, that could happen as soon as this Sunday.