Anthony Kim's Legacy Still Shapes Masters Contenders Years After His Sudden Disappearance

Mar 19, 2026, 7:30 PM CUT

WESTFIELD, IN - AUGUST 17: LIV golfer Anthony Kim plays his tee shot on the 2nd hole during the final round of LIV Golf Indianapolis on August 17, 2025, at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana. Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire GOLF: AUG 17 LIV Golf Indianapolis EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon25081757

Brian Harman didn’t name Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. When asked which player shaped how he approached Augusta, his answer was Anthony Kim.

The reason traces back to one round in 2009, when Kim made 11 birdies at Augusta National, a number that still hasn’t been matched. It wasn’t a clean scorecard. Two bogeys and a double were in there. None of that mattered. Most players learn quickly to manage Augusta. Kim didn’t.

“I used to always love the way that he played the game,” Harman said. “He was bold and took chances.”

That is the part players remember. Not just the number, but the way it happened. Harman carried that with him. In 2021, he opened the Masters with a 69, followed it with another 69, and birdied his final two holes on Friday to sit one shot off the lead heading into the weekend. In that position, the player he pointed to was not one of the game’s dominant champions. It was Kim.

That influence did not come from a long career. It came from something much shorter and harder to explain.

The Round That Outlived the Career

Augusta punishes overconfidence more than almost any course in golf. Players who try to overpower it usually don’t last long. Kim did it anyway and walked away with a record. What followed made that round stand out even more.

He left competitive golf in 2012 at 26. After three PGA Tour wins, he just stopped. There was no clear reason, no long decline, nothing to point to. He was just gone, and over time, that became part of how people remembered him.

More than a decade later, he showed up again through LIV Golf, ending a 13 year gap that never really made sense in the first place. But by then, the image of him was already set, and it came from Augusta.

Phil Mickelson built his Masters legacy over years, winning three times and staying in the mix well into his 40s. Kim never had that kind of run. What he left instead was one round that changed how people saw Augusta, and for players like Harman, that stayed.

His career didn’t go the way people expected. But at Augusta, where patience usually wins, that round still holds up, shaping how some players see the course.

Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav