Eighteen years ago, Anthony Kim was one of the most electrifying young players in golf. Now he is up for one of sports’ most feel-good honours: the American has been nominated for Best Comeback Athlete at the 2026 ESPY Awards, capping one of the most improbable returns the game has ever seen.
What Happened
ESPN has placed Kim on the shortlist for Best Comeback Athlete, with public voting open now and the winners revealed at the ceremony on Wednesday, July 15, live from Lincoln Center in New York on ABC. He is up against San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Angel City FC defender Savy King, and Texas A&M volleyball star Kyndal Stowers. Early voting on ESPN’s social channels reportedly has McCaffrey holding a narrow lead over Kim.
The nomination is the payoff for a February moment that stunned the sport. At LIV Golf Adelaide, Kim erased a five-shot deficit and closed with a nine-under 63 to win his first professional title in nearly 16 years, holding off none other than Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau down the stretch. For a player who had barely competed since 2012, beating two of the biggest names in the game was scarcely believable.
Why It Matters
To understand why an ESPY nod means so much here, you have to remember how far Kim fell. A three-time PGA Tour winner who once climbed to World No. 6 and starred on the victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Valhalla, Kim then all but vanished. A ruptured Achilles required surgery in 2012, and a punishing run of setbacks followed: multiple shoulder operations, hand surgery, a spinal fusion, and well-documented struggles away from the course. For more than a decade, “whatever happened to Anthony Kim?” became one of golf’s great unanswered questions.
His return on the LIV Golf circuit in 2024 was rocky, with a long run of results well off the pace. That made the Adelaide breakthrough — and now the ESPY recognition — all the more meaningful: proof that persistence can still be rewarded even after years in the wilderness. It also lands at a turbulent time for his tour, which has been navigating its own well-publicised financial questions, making a genuine good-news story especially welcome. Kim’s rivalry with Rahm, who has been a fixture on LIV, adds another layer; the Spaniard was recently on the wrong end of a duel at the LIV event at Valderrama too.
What This Means For You
Kim’s game was always built on two things every amateur covets: raw speed and fearless aggression. In his prime he was one of the longest, most attacking players on Tour, taking on flags most pros would never challenge. You may not swing at 120 mph, but the principle that distance buys you shorter clubs and easier approaches still holds — our guide to increasing driver distance breaks down safe, repeatable ways to add yards.
The deeper lesson from Kim’s comeback is about the mental side. Coming back from a five-shot deficit against elite competition, after years away, is as much a test of nerve as of ball-striking. Sharpening the parts of your game that hold up under pressure — starting on the greens, where rounds are won and lost — pays off more than chasing perfection. If the yips or nerves have crept into your stroke, techniques like arm-lock putting can restore consistency when it matters most.
Key Takeaways
- Anthony Kim is nominated for Best Comeback Athlete at the 2026 ESPYs, with results announced July 15 on ABC.
- He is up against Christian McCaffrey, Savy King and Kyndal Stowers.
- The nomination follows his stunning win at LIV Golf Adelaide in February, his first title in nearly 16 years.
- Kim came from five shots back with a closing 63 to beat Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
- Once World No. 6 and a 2008 Ryder Cup hero, Kim missed more than a decade to injuries and personal struggles before his return.
