It seemed that the 4Aces GC were in serious trouble when Patrick Reed left them close to the beginning of the 2026 LIV Golf season. He had been a vital part of the team that was not planning to make new signings this year. However, Dustin Johnson was pushed into the corner and forced to rely on Anthony Kim. That turned into a blessing in disguise for the 4Aces at Adelaide.

David Rumsey from Front Office Sports shared the LIV Golf team’s GM, Chris Rosaasen’s thoughts on Kim’s signing: “No hard feelings with Patrick. Everybody makes the decisions they want to make, and we only wish him the best. I won’t say I’m thanking him for leaving, but we got a pretty good fourth that stepped in. I woke up to the news on [that] Wednesday that he was leaving LIV and going to play the DP World Tour, and hopefully playing the PGA Tour. That left us in a little bit of a void.”

Rosaasen was as shocked as the rest of the world to learn that Reed was leaving LIV Golf. But he understood that the 2018 Masters champion didn’t have his heart set on staying back. His aspirations lay in returning to the PGA Tour. And that needed him to play in the DP World Tour this year. But missing out on the fourth certainly left a “void” in their squad. But he didn’t expect much from Kim when he initially brought him in.

“To be completely honest, we talked about if he can finish in the mid-20s all season, the team can win a bunch. We were trying to level-set expectations. We knew his stock was trending, just could have never guessed that he was going to go out and win his first event.”

Kim had just come off his best LIV Golf finish of T22 in Riyadh. As promising as his form had been lately, neither Rosaasen nor Johnson expected him to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm at Adelaide. In fact, after 54 holes, they must have been happy that he was sitting tied at third, as that too was higher than their expectations of grabbing a mid-20s finish. A win was a dream come true for the entire squad.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

Even though it was a huge surprise, Johnson & Co. were still prepared to have a huge celebration with Kim once he completed his 18 holes.

Anthony Kim received a hero’s celebration despite pulling off a surprise win

Anthony Kim really took the game to the field in the last seven holes of LIV Golf Adelaide 2026. He was already having a flawless round until then. But the 40-year-old scored a flurry of birdies from the 12th hole onwards to steal the title from Jon Rahm.

However, before he picked up pace, the 4Aces GC squad knew that Kim was close to finishing in third place. And they must have been preparing to celebrate his best finish even before they knew he would actually win at The Grange.

So when Kim did win in the end, Dustin Johnson & Co. were seen rushing the 18th green towards him. They sprayed him with some mystery beverage from a bottle. At first, it seemed like they were using champagne, which caused a lot of concerns. Fans wondered if that would trigger Kim’s alcohol addiction, as he has been sober for nearly 12 years.

However, in the clip shared on X, Johnson can be heard saying, “We made sure it was water,” to Kim. That brought relief to the 40-year-old and the fans alike. The 2-time major winner was also acknowledged for being a “class act” by the netizens. Just goes to show how well Anthony Kim has already settled into the 4Aces squad. After his win in Adelaide, the team will also take him more seriously now.