Anthony Kim celebrated winning a wildcard to return to LIV Golf with an iced tea- and claimed finding faith and sobriety was behind his second coming after being given two weeks to live.

The Ryder Cup star entered rehab for drug and alcohol addiction during his 12 years away from golf. The American, now 40, joined the Saudi-backed league as a wildcard in 2024 before he was relegated last season.

But the former world No.6 found his old form by claiming one of the three places available at LIV Golf Promotions in Florida to rejoin the tour - and immediately targeted greater successes. “I'll be back winning golf tournaments soon," Kim pledged.

The American’s return is a boost for LIV Golf after the departure of five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka before Christmas.

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Phil Mickelson wrote on social media: “AK gets his life back and now his golf game is back. He’s on LIV Golf for 2026. Congratulations! Truly inspirational.”

And Kim said: “There's a ton of satisfaction. A ton. I'm sure I'll understand that all that work has really shown this week, maybe later tonight when I'm drinking an iced tea.

“But it means a lot to me because three years ago, doctors had told me that I potentially had two weeks to live. So just to be here standing in front of you guys is a blessing. I'm so grateful that God has given me this opportunity to showcase what I'm best at, and hopefully I'll be holding a trophy soon.”

Kim needed to hole a 36-foot birdie putt on the final hole on Friday to make the 22-man weekend shootout for the three places. He carded weekend rounds of 66 and 69 to claim the final spot behind Canada's Richard T Lee and Sweden's Bjorn Hellgren.

“I wasn't planning on doing anything but getting back on LIV,” he claimed. “There were definitely low moments throughout those two years.

“But I felt like God has a bigger plan. I found faith in rehab and in my sobriety. Not that God gives a **** if I make LIV or if I don't, but I felt like I'm doing all the right things, and I would have a great opportunity to make it back, and that's what I was planning on.”

Kim insisted he had no intention to be a recreational golfer. “This game is hard when you don't practice, and I got tired of shooting big numbers on LIV,” he said. “If I was doing that for fun, I might need to go back to that rehab facility.”

And the American revealed he had been reluctant to return to golf two years ago. “I had such bad feelings about the game of golf because of the mental state I was in when I was playing golf,” he said.

"But part of my rehab process was to get outside and enjoy the weather and be in nature.

“This is a surreal moment for me because other people obviously outside of my inner circle doubted me, but I would be lying to say that I didn't know if I would ever earn my way back. To all the people that don't feel I belong, they can suck it now. The world we live in, there's so many negative people out there. Unfortunately I love hearing all the negativity. But I'm glad I get to throw this in their face. "I'm not here to prove everyone wrong; I'm here to prove myself right,"

"This is just the first step, but I'm glad I earned my spot so everybody could quit talking ****. But I'll be back soon and I'll be back winning golf tournaments soon."

Fellow Ryder Cup star Chris Wood went out after the first round after carding an even-par 70 at Black Diamond Ranch.