Anthony Kim Could Soon Play in Major Championships

Kim's stunning LIV Golf win isn't a direct ticket to majors, but there is a path now, Bob Harig writes. Also, Tommy Fleetwood stays hot and Masters trips are coming up.

Anthony Kim shot up the world ranking with his improbable win at LIV Golf Adelaide. | Charles Laberge/LIV Golf

Anthony Kim’s stunning win at the LIV Golf Adelaide event will undoubtedly be among the game’s top stories. Bigger? If he could get into a major championship, which is now at least possible, if still difficult.

Kim, who vanished from the scene following the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA Tour, won for the first time since his 2010 victory at the Houston Open. He had been ranked 847th in the Official World Golf Ranking coming into the tournament and is now 203rd. When Kim left the game in 2012, he was 149th after once reaching a peak of No. 6.

Jon Rahm, who finished second, moved from 67th to 50th. Peter Uihlein, with a tie for third, moved from 154 to 129 and the top 100 is certainly in view now, which would mean a likely invite to the PGA Championship.

Kim has a tougher road but at least he can see the light. To get to the top 100 he will obviously need at least three high finishes short of victory over LIV’s next four events.

After two weeks off, LIV plays three in a row in Hong Kong (March 5-8), Singapore (March 12-15) and South Africa (March 19-22). Following the Masters, LIV Golf goes to Mexico City (April 16-19) before its first U.S. event in Virginia (May 7-10), at which points-based invitations to the PGA are likely to have already been granted.

Elvis Smylie, who won the opening event in Riyadh and moved to 73rd in the world, stayed in that position after a tie for 27th earned him no points.

Tommy Fleetwood’s 2025 success is carrying over

Tommy Fleetwood played his first event of the year on the PGA Tour, and the results weren’t far off from the way he concluded 2025 with a series of close calls and, finally, a victory at the Tour Championship.

Fleetwood ultimately came up two shots short at Pebble Beach, where a nice final-day leaderboard evolved with Scottie Scheffler again getting in the mix before Collin Morikawa prevailed. Fleetwood tied for fourth with Scheffler.

It was Morikawa’s first victory since the 2023 ZOZO Championship, ending a period of frustration that saw plenty of close calls and ups and downs.

Fleetwood can certainly relate. After easing into the year with two events in Dubai on the DP World Tour, Fleetwood put forth an excellent effort in the PGA Tour’s first 2026 signature event, with another upcoming this week at the Genesis Invitational.

His fine form from last year has apparently carried over.

“It was an amazing period of golf for me,” Fleetwood said. “I said at the time that I’m kind of hopeful that's how I play golf from this point on. But I’m realistic and I know that it was an amazing run for me.”

Tommy Fleetwood finished two shots back at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the first PGA Tour signature event of 2026. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Fleetwood was well-established as a worldwide player, with great success in Europe and as a rock on the European Ryder Cup team.

But the Englishman had difficulty getting over the line on the PGA Tour, despite seemingly putting himself there often. Last summer offered two examples: at the Travelers Championship, where he lost a late lead to Keegan Bradley, and then at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he fell to Justin Rose.

Two weeks later, however, Fleetwood was holding the FedEx Cup trophy—and a $10 million check—after winning the Tour Championship.

“I think for sure I felt the pressure to try and win,” he said. “The longer that goes on, the harder it gets, even though like I said at the time I just keep putting yourself there, it will happen. I still believe all the things that I said at the time, like just because I won once doesn’t mean that stops.

Fleetwood followed up his win at the Tour Championship with a strong fall season that included another starring role for Europe at the Ryder Cup, the win in India and then a runner-up finish in Abu Dhabi followed by a tie for third at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

A lot of big golf awaits. Fleetwood will undoubtedly be among the favorites at the Masters. And this summer? The British Open at Royal Birkdale, in his hometown of Southport, England.

“It’s like having high expectations but having a high level of acceptance with whatever comes,” he said. “And hopefully I continue to play great and hopefully, hopefully this is my window to win majors and it’s a big like massive window and I can win like a bunch. We’ll see what happens. I’m very happy that that would be a question that you would ask me and hope that it could come true.”

Schedule change chatter

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp put forth his scarcity vision back in August at the Tour Championship. Tiger Woods, a member of both the PGA Tour Policy Board and Enterprises Board, elaborated a bit more in December, describing a less-is-more vision with some significant changes.

Now the executive director of the Players Championship has suggested we might learn some of the new ideas next month at the Tour’s flagship event when Rolapp meets the media.

Among the ideas that Lee Smith put forth were playing in larger U.S. markets, “starting the season big” and “owning the summer,” during a media event last week at TPC Sawgrass. Front Office Sports reported his comments.

Among the big markets that do not have annual Tour stops are New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

But the BMW Championship continues to rotate in and out of Chicago—where the Presidents Cup will be played this year—and the Tour in recent years has lost title sponsors or shifted events out of New York and Boston. The PGA Championship will be played in Philadelphia. Woods himself had an event that benefited his foundation for several years which left the D.C. area.

Starting the season later almost seems inevitable but how late? Is the Tour going to give up January dates where events such as the American Express (formerly Bob Hope), and Torrey Pines have been played for years? Does starting after the Super Bowl—which would have meant this past week at Pebble Beach—satisfy potential sponsors enough to disappoint fans who want to see golf sooner?

Owning the summer makes sense—it is when there is no competition from football and when fans are immersed in the major championship season. But working around the majors and putting together compelling events that enhance the FedEx Cup structure are all to be determined.

“I think you’ll see more of that come out, especially over the next month or two as that group [the Future Competition Committee] continues to meet and they continue to focus on what the future model of the PGA Tour looks like,” Smith said.

The PGA Tour appears to be leaning into the idea of the Players Championship as a fifth major. | David Cannon/Getty Images

Smith also didn’t shy away from the talk that the Tour is again going to lean into the idea that the Players Championship should be considered a major.

“This is a signal of the confidence, momentum and offense that is coming out of our building these days,” Smith said. “We’re confident about the qualifications of the Players Championship. We wanted to start a conversation.”

He added to Front Office Sports that this new directive “says a lot about where the Players could be in the calendar and what it’s going to stand for as premier event.”

Scottie Scheffler remains inevitable, even when starting slow

At one point during the second round on Friday, Scottie Scheffler found himself 13 shots out of the lead at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He rallied with a back-nine 31 at Spyglass Hill on Friday, then shot 67-63 over the weekend at Pebble Beach to tie for fourth, two shots behind winner Collin Morikawa.

It was Scheffler’s 18th consecutive top 10 finish in official events dating to last year’s Players Championship—where he tied for 20th. (He has not missed a cut since the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship).

That is two straight weeks where Scheffler got off to a slow start but rebounded to at least post a high finish. He won the American Express in his first start this year.

Scottie Scheffler got off to a slow start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am yet still was in the hunt come Sunday afternoon. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

“It’s amazing in a sense I played three really good rounds these weeks,” Scheffler said. “One of my skills ... I feel I’ve been able to be on a lot of leaderboards recently is getting in the round when I haven't had my best stuff.

“A frustrating start to both of the last couple weeks. But I think these are some of the weeks when you look back, I’m very proud of sticking with it, not giving up even when I felt like things were going against me this week. Just kept fighting, kept trying to hit shots, kept trying to execute. Ted [Scott, his caddie] did a really good job of keeping me in it ... just proud of how I fought all week.”

A first-time Masters participant is heading to Augusta soon

Pretty soon—if not already—there will be tales of players heading to Augusta National in advance of the Masters.

One of the perks of being a tournament invitee is the opportunity to play practice round at the course at just about any time the club is open.

Chris Gotterup, who is off to a fast start this year with two victories in the first four PGA Tour events, is planning a trip sometime next month during one of his off weeks—which likely means the week prior to the Arnold Palmer Invitational or the week after the Players Championship.

Chris Gotterup said he would never go to Augusta National until he had an invitation to compete—and now he does. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Gotterup has never been to Augusta National.

“I’ve done a couple sponsor things during the tournament, but they would always ask if I wanted to go over and I would say no because I didn’t want to go on property until I played for real,” Gotterup said. “This time I’ll happily go over.”

Gotterup, 26, who now has four PGA Tour victories (he won the opposite Myrtle Beach Classic in 2024), has played in only four major championships but two came last year with a tie for 23rd and the U.S. Open and a third-place finish at the British Open.