Anthony Kim Headlines Busy Golf Slate Spanning From Jackson To Jakarta

Wild Card player, Anthony Kim hits his shot from a bunker on the 14th hole during the first round of LIV Golf Virginia at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Friday, June 06, 2025 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Pedro Salado/LIV Golf via AP)

Associated Press

The professional golf season never truly sleeps. While Rory McIlroy and Team Europe continue to bask in the afterglow of a Ryder Cup away victory, new storylines bubble up this weekend, with prime pin-hunting action taking place on three continents.

On the DP World Tour, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship unfolds across three legendary Scottish tracks—The Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. Meanwhile, stateside, the PGA Tour has touched down in Jackson, Mississippi, where the winner’s share of a $6 million purse, 500 FedEx Cup points and a striking bronzed, photorealistic rooster trophy await the leaderboard topper.

Defending champ Kevin Yu takes a laser-focused approach to simply putting himself in position to repeat: “I just feel like if I hit as many fairways as possible, as many greens as possible, I’m going to have a lot of chances,” he said. Following the opening round, the former Arizona State Sun Devil sits two strokes off the lead.

Eric Cole is part of a four-way tie for the lead after turning in a career-best 10-birdie round. “You know, I think I’m trying to birdie every hole I’m playing, so to birdie more than half of them is great,” he quipped.

While the PXG staffer’s round was more sizzle than fizzle, though not without scrapes—an opening bogey and a double on 16 that stung. Cole said the late double was tougher to swallow than the early misstep: “Hurts your scorecard a lot more and also, I felt like I had a lot of good momentum there. It was great to bounce back birdieing 17 and 18.”

Also going down this weekend on the Asian Tour is the debut of the Jakarta International Championship at Damai Indah Golf. Anthony Kim, one of six players relegated at the end of the LIV Golf season, is in action and raring to prove his comeback after a twelve-year hiatus still has legs. The 40-year-old enigma said he’s feeling more comfortable out there. “As long as I stay healthy, I believe that I’ll have a lot of chances to win in the future,” he told reporters.

“I’ve had some stretches where I feel like a world-class player and I’ve had some stretches where I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing. But that comes with not playing golf for 12 years,” he said.

“My goal is to play well over the next five or six weeks, and just let things play out. Right now, I’m focused on the events in front of me. If you play well, you have an opportunity. I’m not too worried about what’s ahead–just taking it one week at a time,” Kim added.

Anthony Kim is on the right side of the cut line but the question is whether he can improve on the T37 he managed at an International Series event in Qatar last November. He shot a 69 in both of the first two rounds and sits at T64. So, he’s got work to do—but with two rounds remaining the opportunity is there. Currently, he’s just three strokes outside a top-25 finish. Other players with LIV ties in action in Indonesia are Ollie Schniederjans, Jinichiro Kozuma and Chieh-Po Lee.