In professional golf, comebacks are celebrated, but falls from grace are seismic. This week, we witnessed both, and that too in a single OWGR update. Anthony Kim’s first win in 16 years saw him edge out 5x major winner Brooks Koepka by 54 spots, garnering strong reactions from fans.

AK’s win in Adelaide saw him reach #203, jumping 244 spots. Before his breakthrough, Kim was nowhere near the competitive discussions. He finished #891 at the end of 2025. His fall from being the world’s 6th best golfer to someone who vanished from the public eye to battle personal demons made everyone assume his career was over.

On the other hand, Brooks Koepka left LIV, citing a desire for a new chapter focused on higher competition and family priorities. It wasn’t tough to assume that LIV’s long-standing struggle for OWGR points and its ability to impact his spot in majors played a pivotal role. Surprisingly, Koepka was ranked #19 when he joined LIV Golf in 2022, but slid to #244 by the end of 2025. Now, after finishing 56th at the Farmers Insurance Open and missing the cut in Phoenix, he is ranked 257th in the world.

Everything changed for LIV Golf on February 3, 2026, when the OWGR Governing Board finally agreed to award points to LIV Golf events. Under the ‘Small Field Tournament’ classification, the board agreed that the top 10 finishers (and ties) in LIV individual stroke-play events would receive points. This decision helped let AK earn 23 OWGR points in Australia. How he earned the win and $4 million was extra special.

Kim made four straight birdies on Nos. 12 through 15, holing putts of 17, 11, 14, and 17 feet. He ran in a 15-footer on the par-4 17th to take the three-stroke lead to the last hole and enjoyed the support of the large crowds as he strolled up the 18th fairway. Though he missed a 20-foot birdie attempt to fall a stroke short of the course record, he tapped in for par to complete his first victory since the 2010 Houston Open.

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Under the comment section of this post, many fans thought of Brooks Koepka as a laughing stock and held AK superior.

Fans react to the great ranking swap

One fan said, “Tbh I’d take AK over Brooks right now.”

Kim’s “1% better every day” mantra resulted in a bogey-free 9-under 63 in the final round to beat Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Kim finished at 23 under. Jon Rahm, tied for the third-round lead with Bryson DeChambeau, was second after a 71.

Conversely, Koepka’s first two PGA Tour games were defined by putting issues that he described as ‘it can’t get any worse,’ ranking near the bottom of the field. It’s not tough to understand that both are progressing in opposite directions.

That’s why another fan repeated the same feeling, just more brutally, commenting, “Brooks who 🤣🤣🤣.”

One fan even said, “Brooks is in a bad way right now. He will be begging to get back on LIV.”

Koepka was once LIV’s most successful player with five individual wins. In the PGA Tour’s 144-player fields, he is currently struggling. That’s why on LIV, with the smaller 57-player fields and the recent inclusion of OWGR points, Koepka could have maintained a higher ranking with his previous win rate.

That’s why one fan, who is still unhappy with Brooks Koepka leaving the league, says, “Yes! The OWGR is finally accurate!”

Finally, one fan sarcastically added, “The PGA Tour built up Brooks’ return like something exciting was going to happen, and then AK happened.”

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp issued memos to members and the media framing the ‘Returning Member Program’ in Koepka’s return. Major media outlets ESPN and CBS focused all eyes on Koepka’s return at Torrey Pines. On the other hand, Kim, whom Data Golf and other sites gave almost no chance of winning, even after day 3 at the Adelaide event, delivered a 5,795-day redemption story that completely overshadowed Koepka’s mediocre T56 finish.

Completely unexpected. Isn’t it?