Staff WriterThere are plenty of ways to make a cut. Some players do it with a tidy score, a calm heartbeat and the air of someone who’s never met a three-putt they couldn’t avoid. At LIV Golf Promotions, Anthony Kim did it the hard way — the only way his story seems to permit — by staring down an eight-foot birdie putt on the last and rolling it straight into the middle like he’d never been away.
The birdie at the par-4 18th delivered a 1-under 69, and with it a weekend tee time by the thinnest of margins. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s Kim’s biggest “you’ll have to kill me to stop me” moment in the two years since he returned to professional golf after a 12-year retirement.
And here’s the kicker: it didn’t just keep him alive — it kept him relevant. With LIV Golf Promotions cutting the field from 47 down to 22 on Friday, Kim is now the last American standing from the 12 who started the week in the field. Seven players snuck through on the number. Only one of them has a Hollywood comeback arc welded to his scorecard.
Kim’s late drama: water ball, chip-in, bogeys — and the putt that mattered
Kim’s route to that final putt was a proper ride. After finding water with his tee shot at the 13th, he chipped in to save par — the kind of moment that doesn’t show up in bold on a leaderboard, but changes the entire emotional temperature of a round. Then came a ragged late stretch: two bogeys in the final five holes, and bounce-back birdies after each — because if you’re going to wobble, you may as well wobble with purpose.
“We can talk about rollercoasters on the round today, but my life has been a pretty big rollercoaster, so this is pretty smooth for me,” said the 40-year-old Kim, who was exempt into the second round after suffering relegation on LIV Golf last season.
It’s a line that lands because it’s true. Kim doesn’t play golf so much as he negotiates with it. On Friday, the negotiation ended with a birdie putt and a signature.
The weekend twist: scores reset, reputations don’t
Now the format does what it was designed to do: turn “good so far” into “prove it again.” The 22 who advanced are chasing three open wild card positions for the 2026 LIV Golf League season, and scores reset for the final 36 holes. In other words, your Thursday and Friday heroics bought you entry, not advantage.
That’s why Jeunghun Wang’s 5-under 65, which led Round 2, feels more like a warning than a comfort blanket. He’s been here before — in 2024 he started Promotions brilliantly, then couldn’t hold the pace during the final-day 36-hole finish. This year, he likes the shift to 18 holes over two days.
“It’s more comfortable for me to play 18, 18,” said Wang, who was exempt from Round 1 due to his International Series status. “I’m really excited to play the next two days. I’ll just give it my best.”
Richard T. Lee’s double-eagle punch — and a Canadian first in sight
Just one behind Wang sits Canadian Richard T. Lee, whose opening 6-under 64 was Thursday’s low round and whose Friday 66 kept the pressure firmly applied. Two eagles did the heavy lifting: a 5-wood second to five feet at the ninth, and a 5-iron from a waste bunker to inside three feet at the 16th — the sort of shot that makes everyone else briefly question their career choices.
“I played 6 under yesterday and 4 under, and I think that’s plenty good enough for this course,” said Lee, who is seeking to become the first Canadian player on LIV Golf.
He also believes extra competitive reps helped him decode a course most players had barely seen.
“I played three practice rounds and didn’t really get the feel of it too much,” Lee said. “On the first round, actually I found out more about the greens and where to place my shots and not to leave it.”
A sensible man, then — because this place will punish you for being casually wrong.
The chase pack: proven names, hungry returnees, and International Series steel
Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren and Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana matched Lee’s 66, while nine players posted 67 — a reminder that the weekend field has plenty of bite. Kaewkanjana, remember, played in LIV Golf’s inaugural 2022 season and knows exactly what he’s chasing.
Among the former LIV contingent, Australian Matt Jones advanced with 69 after being 4-under at the turn, then clinging on through three bogeys in a five-hole stretch early on the back nine. Jones has history here too — 50 LIV tournaments as part of Ripper GC across the first four seasons — and now he’s trying to write his way back in.
Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent also shot 69 to move on, and he’s the only player in the field with previous Promotions success, earning one of the three spots in 2023 that ultimately placed him on Jon Rahm’s expansion Legion XIII team in 2024.
And the leaderboard’s broader theme is hard to miss: a strong Asian Tour and International Series presence, with players who have learned to score in deep fields and uncomfortable pressure.
Other strong Asian Tour and International Series contenders who made the cut after Round 2 include Australia’s Travis Smyth, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, Sarit Suwannarut, Danthai Boonma, Rattanon Wannasrichan, America’s Anthony Kim, the Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena, and Zimbabwe’s Kieran Vincent. All will start the weekend rounds on level par as the battle for the three LIV Golf cards intensifies.
Kim’s closing thought: blunt, honest — and perfectly on-brand
Kim called his own performance a “5” out of 10. That’s not false modesty; it’s accuracy with scars. But he also knows exactly what this week is supposed to feel like.
“This is what I signed up for,” Kim said. “I’m glad that I got to be in that position and have to make a birdie to get into the next two rounds. There’s a long way to go, but I feel really good about it going into this weekend.”
And that’s the weekend in one neat paragraph: no margin, no comfort, no hiding place. At LIV Golf Promotions, everybody starts again at level par — but only a few will finish with a LIV card in their pocket.
Advancing into Rounds 3–4 (Round 2 scores)
Jeunghun Wang (South Korea) 65; Richard T. Lee (Canada) 66; Bjorn Hellgren (Sweden) 66; Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thailand) 66; Max Kennedy (Ireland) 67; Travis Smyth (Australia) 67; Jazz Janewattananond (Thailand) 67; Sarit Suwannarut (Thailand) 67; Lucas Bjerregaard (Denmark) 67; Oliver Bekker (South Africa) 67; Danthai Boonma (Thailand) 67; Takanori Konishi (Japan) 67; Joe Pagdin (England) 67; Christopher Wood (Australia) 68; Rattanon Wannasrichan (Thailand) 68; Cory Crawford (Australia) 69; Jose Islas (Mexico) 69; Julian Perico (Peru) 69; Anthony Kim (USA) 69; Kieran Vincent (Zimbabwe) 69; Matt Jones (Australia) 69; Miguel Tabuena (Philippines) 69.
