LIV GOLF HONG KONG

March 3, 2026

Dustin Johnson

Anthony Kim

Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling

4Aces GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome to the media center, 4Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson and Anthony Kim. DJ, strong start to the season for the 4Aces with two third-place podium finishes. What's the energy been like with the team to start this year?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I think it's good. Obviously decent showing the first week, finishing third. Again, in Adelaide, I think we were right there. We had a chance, obviously, especially with what AK did and the way he played, especially on Sunday, coming back from I think he was four or five back starting the day and the way he played. To get a win there, that was awesome. It was really special to watch.

The team was close. We had a chance.

I think obviously getting off to a good start both weeks, we were kind of right there. Just a few holes here and there -- myself, I'm sure a few of the other guys, too, we were right in the mix. I think obviously with the addition of AK and the way he's playing, I think we have a very strong team. I'm really excited for this week and the rest of the year.

I think we're going to be very, very solid. Obviously Detry is a new addition to the team, too. I think we've got four great players. I'd like to see us up there in contention every single week, which I think we have a chance to do.

THE MODERATOR: Anthony, coming off that emotional win in Adelaide, how have the last two weeks been for you? Have you had any more time to process what that moment has meant for you and your family?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, it was a great two-week break. I went to Thailand and just hung out with my family, which I think in the past I might not have done. But I don't think anyone would have wanted to be a part of my family back then.

It was nice to kind of set myself back into a place where golf and family is the most important thing, along with sobriety.

I know it was a great week of golf, but at the end of the day, my goals are to get 1 percent better every day, as corny as that sounds, and I probably hit more balls in Thailand than I have the beginning of this year.

I'm still focused on getting better and trying to help this team as much as I can.

Q. That 1 percent every day, was there a moment in Adelaide where you really felt it all coming together after the struggles because, for hackers watching on, your body wasn't really delivering what you could do in the lead-up to that event during your comeback in the last few years. Was there a moment where you just thought, right, I'm back?

ANTHONY KIM: I don't think there was a moment where I started to think, I'm playing better than I was before. But I think not worrying about the results and just trying to get better every day, that process clicked at some point. I don't know when that was.

I really started playing better than I was scoring in Riyadh, but I just didn't get the ball in the hole quick enough. It kind of came together on the back nine.

My focus is just to keep working, and I think my best golf is in front of me.

Q. I'm just curious, your best golf is in front of you, coming into this week, it's been a while since you'd won. Do you remember what the feeling was like coming into the tournament that's following? And how are you feeling?

ANTHONY KIM: I definitely didn't know what it was like to finish in the top half of the field. It was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

I think that coming into this week, obviously other people have certain expectations, but all I can do is try my best on every shot.

The thing that I thought were nonsense when I was a kid, when people said, just take it one day at a time and I never listened, I'm using that as a 40-year-old to my advantage. I think through my ups and downs, I've learned to be resilient and just put one foot in front of the other and just keep going.

Q. Is that actually the key to then staying centered within yourself?

ANTHONY KIM: Yeah, not just in golf but in life. My wife and I talked for a couple nights, and I don't want to downplay that it felt surreal. I didn't want to wake up and think that this was a dream, right, because two years ago when I joined LIV, I was flat-out terrible. But I knew that if I just kept working that I would get where I wanted to go.

I know all the guys on the team are excited about having chances to win, and I think, like Dustin said, we have four great players on the team, and we're going to give ourselves plenty of chances, as long as we keep working.

Q. (On what his daughter means to him.)

ANTHONY KIM: When she ran out on to that green, that was -- selfishly, that was one of the most special moments of my life. When I used to putt for five, six hours on the green at the club I belonged to that sent me a letter to get off the green and not practice as much, that was always in the back of my mind. I've seen other players' families run on to the green. I'm pretty sure I've seen you do that (indicating DJ).

But that was my goal. I'm a recovering addict, but now I think I'm addicted to making that happen again. There's nothing that's going to stop me from working to get to that point.

Q. I'm curious what it was like from your perspective in that final round. I assume you knew what AK was doing as he was climbing up the leaderboard, and then once you got to 18 and finished and were waiting for him to finish it off, what was going through your mind during that time?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: Well, I was finishing on 6 or 5 or whatever hole I was on. I was on the front. There's leaderboards out there, and you're kind of watching it throughout the day. I looked up at one point, he was three back, and then a couple holes later he's two back. He kept seeming to climb the leaderboard, and Jon and Bryson just were kind of staying the same.

Then I think we looked up and saw he was even. We had a couple holes left, and when I finished out, I pulled up the leaderboard, and I think he was one ahead, and he still had three or four holes left.

So obviously I jumped in the cart and got back to the club and got to 18 to watch the finish. I think he birdied 16 and 17, whatever, and got a three-shot lead, whatever it was. 15, 16, 17, he birdied -- he was making a bunch of birdies. It was really cool, and obviously I was super proud.

I was more proud for him, just for -- I know all the hard work he's put in. I know all the things he's been through. To see him come out on the other side of it, especially, too, playing in the last group with Bryson and Jon, and to go out and play that round of golf was really special, and to get it done on Sunday with those guys and finish it off with a win was -- maybe other than me and maybe him and the guys on our team that believed in him, I don't think anyone else did.

I think it was just a really special day, and obviously for him, with all the hard work that he's put into the game over the last couple years, I think -- I know he was talking about when it kind of clicked for him. To me, watching him go through the Promotions event, knowing that he had to play well or he wasn't going to have a place to play, playing well in that event, finishing in the top 3, because that was really the only choice you had, that to me was where it kind of clicked where, okay, I think AK has got his game back. With that kind of pressure, performing with that kind of pressure, and obviously coming out in the first event, he played solid.

Like he said, I don't think he played his best, but he just struggled to get it in the hole. I think a lot of us struggle to get it in the hole around that golf course. I know I do. I think I had my best finish ever this year, and that was 17th. That golf course, I've played it six or seven times, and I just struggle around there.

I just knew he was playing well. It was a really special moment. I think it was great for the game of golf. It was great for LIV. Obviously it was great for our team, the Aces, and most importantly, it was great for him and his family.

Q. How many times have you watched the highlights since that Sunday?

ANTHONY KIM: Enough times where I'm not going to watch it anymore. (Laughter.)

Q. Do you have a sense of how your victory resonated in the golf world at large? It obviously struck a chord. Did you think it would strike that big of a chord? How are you processing the impact amongst the golf community?

ANTHONY KIM: I didn't know what effect it would have because I never thought that far ahead. I was and am focused on just getting better today.

But I've had a lot of people reach out, especially through social media. I try to answer as many messages as I can. I don't message back the bad ones anymore. But the ones that are positive have had such an effect on me, just because I think whether it's you, whether it's your uncle, whether it's your dad, whether it's your child, everybody has issues, and I think for golf, it was good because nobody really talked -- well, a few. I mentioned it before. A few people talked about LIV and PGA TOUR being divided, but it wasn't about golf, it was about setting goals, being resilient and overcoming obstacles in your life.

To my own fault, I made a lot of bad decisions. But the only way I can overcome that is by just dealing with it and hitting it head on.

It's been amazing, the love and support I've gotten. I'm motivated by negativity, so it's been very weird. But I feel like a lot of people saw their own families, their own struggles in me, and I think that's why it got kind of the reception that it did.

Q. Obviously you talked about all the responses you got. Are there two or three messages that really touched your heart that maybe somebody from long ago reached out, anything that really comes to mind right now?

ANTHONY KIM: No, not really. I don't really talk to the people I used to talk to. I used to be somebody that if you wronged me before, I would want to say something back to you, and I would never let it go. But it's like a gray -- it's gray to me. The people that have brought the negativity in my life, they don't exist.

I hate to say it, but I think I'm maturing because I don't want to fight back with people that don't like me or that don't appreciate what I'm doing because that's their life, right?

I will say the messages that affected me, I actually told our GM, Chris, who's become a friend, I've had a lot of people tell me that I've been screwing up, but after watching that, I'm going to deal with my problems.

I have hundreds and thousands of messages like that. I would like to respond to every single one. I can't, but I try to respond to them because they're taking ownership of the issues that they created in their life. Some unfortunate circumstances happen, but bad decisions are a large part of the reason people are in bad spots, and I think everyone can relate to that.

Just seeing that other people are changing to better their life, better their family's life is one of the reasons that I wanted to come back to golf.

Q. After this journey, did you get to Thailand and have a chance to just go out and play for fun? Did you feel a release where you could just go out and say, right, today is just a hit and a giggle?

ANTHONY KIM: No. I played with my wife. I played with my wife, so there was no hit-and-giggle there.

But we had a good time. I think the best part of that trip as far as golf was concerned besides playing and practicing at a great place was that my wife and I did get to go play nine holes where we just -- we talked about how surreal it was that we've made it this far because I definitely didn't do it alone.

I know that if she wasn't in my life, there's zero chance I'd be playing golf. I give her so much credit for telling me, this is what you're good at, and you can make a difference in other people's lives if you do succeed.

Yeah, I had a great week, but I still have a lot of goals that I've set. I don't need to tell everybody what those goals are, but my goals are bigger than just to win one golf tournament.

Q. AK, you said 1 percent better every day. How far away from 100 percent do you consider yourself today?

ANTHONY KIM: I'm not good at math, but to me, I start at zero every day. That's my mindset. I'm starting over every day. It's a lot easier to say than do because if you have a good week, you think, oh, maybe I can kind of relax on the practice or I can do this differently.

But my goal is to stay very disciplined and put in all the hard work I can.

Q. Just don't quit.

ANTHONY KIM: Well, there's other words for it, but yeah.