Anthony Kim's Return To Golf Includes A Shank And The Highest Score Of The Day, But Goes As Expected

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Expectations for Anthony Kim ahead of his LIV Golf debut in Jeddah on Thursday were all over the place, and understandably so. Kim had not played a competitive round of golf in 12 years and even alluded to not owning a set of golf clubs for a while during his hiatus from the game. 

When it was all said and done, Kim posted a six-over 76 placing him at the bottom of the leaderboard with 36 holes left to play.

The low of Kim's round came on the Par 4 6th hole, his seventh hole of the day. After just missing the fairway with his tee shot, Kim shanked his next shot. It wasn't one of those shanks that travels a good distance, either, this one went right in a hurry, but fortunately for him, he avoided too much trouble and walked away with a bogey.

The shank seemed to have served as a flushing of the system, however, as he made his only birdie of the day on the very next hole. 

While Kim was certainly hunting for more birdies than one on Thursday, he did manage to avoid making any double bogeys or worse, which could have horribly compounded things.

Those who have never picked up a golf club in their life and the haters of all things LIV Golf will see Kim's name at the bottom of the leaderboard and say he's ‘washed’ and ‘over-hyped,’ but his 76 is right around the number most realistic folks would have predicted ahead of his round.

As every round of golf goes, a made putt here and there, or in Kim's case the avoidance of a shank, and we're probably not talking about him occupying the basement of the leaderboard.

The rust on Kim's game was apparent, and understandably so. Just as Tiger Woods has alluded to ahead of his multiple comebacks over the years, it's impossible to simulate competitive, under-the-gun rounds. All Kim can do now is chip away at the rust and hold on for dear life as he tries to improve things.

Seven other players shot over par in the opening round of LIV Jeddah as Bubba Watson is the closest to Kim on the leaderboard after posting a four-over 74.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.