For most of the week, the story was the comeback, the win, the tears, the 16 years in between. But on Thursday, Anthony Kim posted something that reframed it all and made the Adelaide trophy look like the smaller achievement.

Taking to Instagram, Kim marked the occasion with a direct message. “3 years sober 2day,” he wrote. “While many will think my win @livgolfleague Adelaide, Australia was my biggest accomplishment, it doesn’t compare to my journey in sobriety.” He went further, speaking directly to others who may be in a similar place: “Ending my life felt like the best option since I was a little boy but lemme tell u that if u keep fightin u never lose.” He credited his wife, Emily, as his rock, and their daughter, Bella, as his “ultimate motivation.”

Those words carry a particular weight. The timeline explains it.

He won three PGA Tour events before he turned 25, a record that only four other golfers had set in 30 years. Anthony Kim also finished in the top 10 in Major tournaments and played in the Ryder Cup. He was on the fastest track in the sport. However, for the next 12 years, there was silence. And the reason was that he had multiple surgeries, like Achilles tendon surgery in 2012, followed by spinal fusion, and a battle with addiction and suicidal thoughts.

The Adelaide win was a big part of that story.

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Returning as a LIV Golf wildcard in 2024, he closed out a flawless final round to finish three strokes ahead of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, his first professional win since 2010.

Speaking after the round, he pointed to his daughter as the turning point, “Obviously, when Bella was born, Emily’s and my life changed.”

He further added that watching her run onto the green was “one of the most special moments of my life.”

Back in a February 2025 Instagram post marking two years of sobriety, Anthony Kim had written that he contemplated ending his life daily for almost 20 years, even while competing on the PGA Tour.

On Thursday, he broadened that message. “My advice as someone who wakes up and fights everyday for my sobriety is to find loved ones to lean on, have faith in a higher power & never give up… Ur life is worth fighting 4.”

Three years sober, and a LIV Golf title on his resume, both arriving in the same week. Meanwhile, as Anthony Kim reflected on sobriety, his peers were still processing what they had watched unfold on the course.

Golfers rally behind Anthony Kim’s comeback

Tiger Woods, speaking at the Genesis Invitational press conference this week, did not hold back.

“He was on an unbelievable run when he won at Charlotte, and we played each other at Congressional,” Woods said. “Then to see him struggle in life and didn’t really want to play golf, didn’t really want to be part of golf, and for him to come all the way back and to be as devoted as he is to his family, you just have to wrap your heart around it because of the struggles.”

The list goes on.

Cristie Kerr called it one of the biggest comeback stories of all time, noting that few people understand what it takes to win a golf tournament, let alone return from what Kim had gone through.

Annika Sorenstam congratulated Anthony Kim directly, saying his hard work and commitment had paid off. She referred to it as the most heartwarming story of the year.

Billy Horschel kept it short: “Congrats @AnthonyKim Golf on the victory! Impressive playing, but it’s even more than that. It’s inspirational!!”

What his peers saw in Adelaide was not just a golfer returning. It was someone who had fought his way back through adversity.