This week at No Laying Up, we’re introducing a new feature called Pen Pals, where two (or more) members of our squad tackle a subject the way degenerate novelists of the 20th century used to — with written correspondence. First up are Kevin Van Valkenburg and D.J. Piehowski on Anthony Kim’s return to professional golf, development that made them wistful for days gone by, and wondering whether we’ll ever see a needle mover again in any of the leagues.
• • •
To: D.J. Piehowski
From: Kevin Van Valkenburg
D.J. –
As you know, nobody loves a spicy golf take more than I do. To borrow a baseball analogy, there is something intoxicating about a wily veteran columnist reaching back and throwing 97 with movement when they really feel strongly about an issue. I'll never forget Rick Reilly just torching Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus on the back page of Sports Illustrated when they testified against Casey Martin being able to take a cart under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And who can forget Stephen A. Smith detonating Kwame Brown when the Lakers traded him away for a package that brought them Pau Gasol?
But watching Anthony Kim return to professional golf this week after 12 years away, I feel like it calls for the opposite approach. I want to talk about AK's return with a little nuance, and perhaps use a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer. I remember when Golf Twitter first became a thing in, say, 2013 or 2014, the idea that AK might return and be a force of nature felt like a very real thing. No Laying Up even sold shirts back then with AK's face on them beneath the phrase: "Legends Never Die." And while Kim (thankfully) lived, at some point, an actual comeback seemed almost like an afterthought. I kind of liked that AK became a folk hero instead of slowly crumbling before our eyes, a frustrated, oft-injured pro.
Even two years ago, when I first heard rumors that LIV was trying to coax him into a comeback, I didn't take it all that seriously. What, after all, could we really expect? Bjorn Borg retired from tennis when he was 26 and the No. 1 player in the world, and when he attempted a comeback 10 years later, he got rocked, failing to win even a single set in his first nine matches. Kim wasn't exactly the No. 1 player when he walked away from golf; why not preserve the mystery? The reason that "legends never die" is they don't stick around — all that does is the stories of their best moments.
Of course, I couldn't resist following Kim's return last week. The rollout was typical LIV, overproduced and a little hamfisted, well-meaning but also tone deaf. I'm not sure why we had to pretend like AK had "haters" when he's one of the few guys from the past Golf Twitter seems to love unequivocally. Some of his return also feels rushed because of course LIV can't resist parading its newest shiny object. I wish they'd chosen to tease us with a documentary (maybe even a series) about his decision to return, let the excitement build while he worked on his game and his personal issues, and then rolled him out with an actual team in 2025. But it's possible that's not what he wanted and they're trying to be respectful of his wishes — or his team's wishes.
I didn't wake up at 3 a.m. on Friday to watch his debut, granted, but I did watch the highlight reels. Mostly what I came away thinking was: I hope he still finds joy in this, and he's not being steered down this path by anyone who doesn't have his best interests at heart. I don't care about him hitting shanks or starting Day 1 in DFL after shooting 76. I just don't want him treated like a circus act by an organization that's desperate to catch the attention — any attention — of fans.
What did you think?
KVV
• • •
To: Kevin Van Valkenburg
From: D.J. Piehowski
KVV,
For legal reasons, any similarities between the likeness of AK and what appeared on those t-shirts is purely coincidental.
I've tried really hard to just sit with the AK stuff (instead of hucking #takes), mostly just to try to figure out how I actually feel about it. Obviously, the feelings are mixed. I'll say upfront that if he has the desire to play competitive golf again, then I'm sincerely glad he's doing so (even if my selfish preference would be to keep my memory of him preserved in a YouTube snow globe).
But even now, I think my first reaction to his comeback news remains my biggest takeaway: Imagine the pro game getting so disillusioning that this news could become... borderline uninteresting. If you've been a hardcore golf fan for the past 15 years, it's almost unfathomable. I think back to the days when we would lose our minds about a DM... from someone who saw a text... about someone who had heard a rumor... that a friend had seen AK hitting balls. The myth of Anthony Kim became way more powerful than the person ever could have been. I don't think people realized (or cared) that his career had become more like a meme – the perfect antidote to all the cookie cutter, EA Sports create-a-player drones of the PGA Tour. What's more fun to talk about? Webb Simpson or the idea of Anthony Kim? I honestly never even really thought about what it would be like if he actually came back.
It's 5:09 p.m. on Friday afternoon. AK's full round is available and accessible to watch on many platforms. I just haven't. I'm sure I will watch the highlights at some point. But none of it feels pressing, which is such an unexpected place to be.
I saw a few swing videos this week. I know he shot 76. I know he hit a shank. I know he wore a collared shirt. Other than that, I couldn't tell you all that much about "The Dance of Redemption" so far, other than I always pictured the dancing being a little more fun than this. I'm rooting for him to play well. I just don't really need to watch it. Maybe that will change.
Today, I've gotten two (2) text messages about his first competitive round in 12 years. LIV posted the highlight of his first competitive tee shot since 2012. Thirty-eight accounts retweeted it. This is a pretty pointless measure of what's successful and what isn't. But it's pretty good proof that the community that poured gas on the meme is a lot different.
On one hand, putting this all on LIV is probably slightly unfair. The whole world of men's pro golf feels so fractured and arbitrary outside of the majors that I'm not really running to the TV to watch anything, let alone downloading an app to watch LIV Golf Jeddah at 3 a.m.
But let me ask you this: How would this week feel differently if AK chose to make his comeback at Riviera or Phoenix or Torrey Pines?
D.J.
• • •
To: D.J. Piehowski
From: Kevin Van Valkenburg
-Pie Man:
I've been thinking about your question all morning. There would have been more buzz, certainly. I think the support from fans would have been massive. But would it have faded just as quickly? I don't think he would have broken 80 at Riv or Torrey, so maybe this was part of the strategy. I don't think a return to the PGA Tour was ever realistic, certainly at this point in his life. It's clear LIV is rolling him out there before he's ready to compete at a high level, which seems counterintuitive to their overall fight for credibility.
I suspect AK's team looked at what LIV was offering — guaranteed money, guaranteed starts, a relaxed environment, very few media obligations — and saw it as a no-brainer.
I actually want him to play well. I hope he does have better golf in front of him, in time. One of the dumbest possible narratives is that people like me are rooting against him to make some broader point about LIV or the PGA Tour. But I also feel a bit about his return like I did when George Lucas dropped "The Phantom Menace," or when Arrested Development returned for Season 4. Talking about something in the abstract, when it's nothing but potential in your mind, is a lot more interesting than being disappointed when it can't live up to years of buzz and expectations. The people who spent all weekend on Twitter telling anyone who would listen that "Actually, AK's return was incredible, and making 11 straight pars on Saturday after 12 years away was amazing!" are a lot like the people who tried to talk themselves into "Revenge of the Sith." It's fine if you want to pretend you liked it, but we don't need to lower the bar to the floor just because we had to wait so long between episodes.
Every time I think about AK, I think about something Randy once said: People may need to grasp that golfers are inherently uncool. Part of Kim's appeal, though, is that he was kind of cool, particularly to a generation of Asian kids who didn't have many role models like him. I got a note from an NLU listener last month who wanted me to know that, for Korean Americans of a certain age, AK was almost like their version of Allen Iverson. He had swagger, he was cocky, he played fearlessly, and he didn't apologize to anyone for who he was. Maybe he didn't maximize his potential, but he made a stuffy sport seem fun. I don't know if Kim has spent much time thinking about what he meant to people, but if he has, I hope that gives him some motivation to keep going when doubt creeps in.
I'll leave you with a bleak, but perhaps appropriate question: Would the best case scenario for Anthony Kim even make a lick of difference for golf? I'm not even talking about LIV or the PGA Tour. Let's say Kim grinds for the next 18 months and by some miracle, starts contending in majors. Let's say he even wins one.
Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm winning majors hasn't brought additional eyeballs to golf. Ratings are bleak across the board.
What difference would AK rising from the ashes make for ... anyone?
KVV
• • •
To: Kevin Van Valkenburg
From: D.J. Piehowski
KVV,
I think the "best case scenario" question is an interesting one. If we're truly allowing ourselves to picture him contending in majors, then yes, sure, I think that would bring eyeballs and excitement to the sport in a way that almost no one else is capable of (more on this in a second). The chance that it happens once is incredibly small. The chance that it happens over and over again, in a way that somehow permanently raises the tide of professional golf? The Haters, wherever they are, probably like their chances on that one.
Like you, I'm obviously rooting for this, even if I know it won't happen (and it's wildly unfair to expect it to happen). Like Tiger in 2019 or Phil at Kiawah, I guess that the unbelievable does happen from time to time in golf. I mean, Blockie kind of contended at a PGA! Why couldn't it happen in a one-off occurrence? (Other than the fact that he has no eligibility and we haven't seen him play 72 holes in 12 years.)
I think what's more likely is that he has a hot week and contends at a LIV event. What that means, I have no idea and would have to think more about. I'm sure that any win would be a massive personal triumph after all he's been through. Like you, I hope any notoriety and relevance is fueled by good play instead of him becoming a sideshow. There's been so much talk in the past few years about pro golf being "an entertainment product" and my hunch is that we're about to be reminded that the entertainment is still mostly derived from watching good performances. I tried watching a bit this weekend and once the novelty of seeing him swing wears off, it's hard to get up for caring too much about the dude who is 25 back through 36 holes, no matter who it is.
You mentioned Rahm and Koepka not really moving the needle for casual fans in the way AK does and I do think it's interesting to think about why that is. (I also think Koepka does more of this than we think for a generation younger than ours.)
My guess is that, even though most of them know how silly this is, golf fans accidentally compare every player to Tiger Woods. There will never, ever be another Tiger. But, man, there are a really small handful of guys that, for different reasons – their play, their age, their swagger – at least let you think for a second that there could be.
Rory, Spieth and AK are the three guys from my time watching golf. Your mileage may vary.
There's something about seeing that potential, and getting in on the ground floor of something that feels like it could change the entire sport, that just makes those guys stick with you forever. It's so irrational and emotional and unfair and it's not something anyone else can replicate or cultivate. But those are my main characters; the guys that make golf worth watching for me.
Ninety-nine percent of golf careers are long slogs of incremental progress and, if you're extremely lucky, the window of being transcendently great eventually opens for a short time. But golf fans are smart enough (and cursed enough) to know it's not going to be open long enough to win 15 majors, let alone 18. Of course we should all enjoy greatness as it happens (shout out to Scottie Scheffler), but that's just not how sports work for most people. It's so much dumber and more emotional than that. You want to think you're watching someone that could be the best ever and that you have some obligation to have seen it in real time. That's what makes it fun.
For some guys that window cracks open when they are 20 years old and it creates a phenomenon. The result is true superstardom, but the trade off is a set of brutal, inescapable expectations they have to carry around for the rest of their career. We've seen it with Rory at the majors and how crushing that pressure can be. But now AK almost feels like he's found a loophole. He gets to keep playing. He gets to be a star and play for massive purses. He can hang it up again whenever he wants because the stakes don't really matter. I'm happy that he gets to play golf again. I just don't really know where it leaves us as fans.
Is any of this making sense? Is it time for Augusta yet? Please bring us home with your parting thoughts.
D.J.
• • •
To: D.J. Piehowski
From: Kevin Van Valkenburg
-D.J.
Man, your comment about the window of being transcendently great only being open for a short time has me a little shook.
One of the things I remember very clearly about the night that Jordan Spieth won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale is writing, in the final paragraphs of my ESPN game story, that this was still just the beginning for him. He'd broken the curse of No. 12 at Augusta, and now he was going to reel off four or five more of these during the next decade. The last line, which I just looked up, is: "There is so much more still to come."
Nearly seven years later, that looks pretty silly on my part. But I understand why I wrote it back then. We long for interesting stars in golf (and though Spieth remains interesting, I'm not sure he's still a star) because a lot of golf just isn't compelling unless we care. That speaks to why we just spent all weekend thinking about AK, even though he finished 33 strokes behind the winner and DFL by 11 shots. He always made us care.
Your point about the window of greatness being so small, way smaller than we realize, made me realize how silly it is to pretend someone like Jon Rahm or Rory McIlroy is worth $600 million. If either was worth that much money, wouldn't millions and millions of people be glued to LIV Jeddah or The Cognizant just watch them either thrash the competition or collapse trying?
I don't think we've landed on any answers, just more questions. I keep coming back to something we've talked a lot about the last few years: What if it's not possible to have superstars anymore in golf because the equipment makes it so hard for the most talented players to separate themselves? Maybe Rory or Scottie or Rahm could have been, if not Tiger Woods, a Tom Watson of their generation but it's way harder to pull away from your peers than it once was?
We may be creeping closer in that scenario to just leaning all the way in on team golf. If we can't have super stars, maybe fans can get behind a team instead?
Welp! I think I just talked myself into watching Legion XIII hype videos and learning their fight song.
Until next time...
KVV