Comeback Kim on the up after battle with 'dark demons'

The 38-year-old has returned to play for the first time since 2012 and says there's a lot of reasons I shouldn't be here’

- Ewan Murray

Fourteen years to the day since he won the Houston Open, Anthony Kim tepidly took to a podium in Miami. His shirt hung loose, his face of a man much older than the 38 years detalied in his biography.

"When doctors are telling you that you may not have much time left, that's a pretty rude awakening," Kim explained. "I still think about it to this day when I'm out there and I get frustrated with my golf... how far I have come. I got to a point where I may not be here speaking to you guys."

Kim quickly relaxed. Yesterday at Doral was his first appearance in front of general media in a dozen years. He was erudite and self-deprecating while maintaining the element of mystery that has made him such a fascinating character. In the summer of 2012, while at least close to the summit of his sport, Kim required achilles surgery. He was not seen again in a competitive environment until accepting a wildcard offer from LIV at the start of this year.

"My life was already kind of going downhill," said Kim of 2012 and the first of seven operations. "I was making poor decisions off the golf course; and obviously on, missing that many cuts.