Patrick Reed‘s departure left the 4Aces GC in a tough spot. With just a few days to go before the 2026 season kicked off, they were stuck with only three members in their squad. He hadn’t hinted at considering a move away for them to search for a replacement sooner. Dustin Johnson & Co. were pushed into the corner and forced to rely on Anthony Kim after their trip to Riyadh. However, that turned into a blessing in disguise as he filled the void better than his teammates imagined he could.

David Rumsey from Front Office Sports shared the LIV Golf team’s GM, Chris Rosaasen’s thoughts on Kim’s signing: “No hard feelings with Patrick. Everybody makes the decisions they want to make, and we only wish him the best. I won’t say I’m thanking him for leaving, but we got a pretty good fourth that stepped in. I woke up to the news on [that] Wednesday that he was leaving LIV and going to play the DP World Tour, and hopefully playing the PGA Tour. That left us in a little bit of a void.”

Rosaasen was as shocked as the rest of the world to learn that Reed was leaving LIV Golf. But he understood that his aspirations lay in returning to the PGA Tour. The 2018 Masters champion was also performing well in the DP World Tour after his win in Dubai. So he had his heart set on leaving the Saudi-based league.

Moreover, Reed had also mentioned that he couldn’t come to terms with what LIV Golf were offering him to extend his contract. That was the last straw that pushed him out of the league. So it was certain that the 35-year-old was leaving. But missing out on the fourth certainly left a “void” in the 4Aces squad. One that they were looking to fill by signing Kim. Even though they didn’t have high expectations for him.

“To be completely honest, we talked about if he can finish in the mid-20s all season, the team can win a bunch. We were trying to level-set expectations. We knew his stock was trending; we just could have never guessed that he was going to go out and win his first event.”

Kim had just come off his best LIV Golf finish of T22 in Riyadh. As promising as his form had been lately, neither Rosaasen nor Johnson expected him to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm at Adelaide. In fact, after 54 holes, they must have been happy that he was sitting tied at third, as that too was higher than their expectations of grabbing a mid-20s finish. A win was a dream come true for the entire squad.

This was Kim’s first win in professional golf after 16 years. The last time he had won a title was the Shell Houston Open back in April 2010. Since then, the 40-year-old had come close to big wins, like finishing at T5 in the 2011 Open Championship. But he never claimed a victory. He was also away from the sport for 12 years. That makes his comeback and win at Adelaide even sweeter.

Even though it was a huge surprise, Johnson & Co. were still prepared to have a huge celebration with Kim once he completed his 18 holes.

Anthony Kim received a hero’s celebration despite pulling off a surprise win

Anthony Kim really took the game to the field in the last seven holes of LIV Golf Adelaide 2026. He was already having a flawless round until then. But the 40-year-old scored a flurry of birdies from the 12th hole onwards to steal the title from Jon Rahm.

However, before he picked up pace, the 4Aces GC squad knew that Kim was close to finishing in third place. And they must have been preparing to celebrate his best finish even before they knew he would actually win at The Grange.

So when Kim did win in the end, Dustin Johnson & Co. were seen rushing the 18th green towards him. They sprayed him with fizzy water, respecting his sobriety. At first, it seemed like they were using champagne, which caused a lot of concern, given Kim’s past addiction.

However, in the clip shared on X, Johnson can be heard saying, “We made sure it was water,” to Kim. That brought relief to the 40-year-old and the fans alike. The 2-time major winner was also acknowledged for being a “class act” by the netizens. But the care his team showed about his past reveals how they have accepted Kim into the squad already.