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Chris kirk holds 54-hole honda classic lead, looking for first pga tour win in eight years.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Chris Kirk’s last win on the PGA Tour was nearly eight years ago. He’s put himself in a position to change that at the Honda Classic.

Kirk battled his way to a 4-under round of 66 on Saturday, putting him at 13-under 197 for the week and giving him a two-shot lead over Eric Cole (66) through three rounds at PGA National.

His last win on tour was at Colonial in 2015 — 180 tournaments ago. He’s a four-time winner on tour, played in the Presidents Cup in 2015, and has been waiting to hoist a trophy again since.

Kirk made a wild birdie on the last, after his second shot on the par-5 18th wound up next to the grandstand and underneath someone’s bag that was left against the structure. He got a drop, chipped on from there and made the putt to restore a two-shot lead.

Full-field scores from The Honda Classic

And now he has a chance to be a winner again — with most of the players nearest to him on the leaderboard looking for their first tour wins.

“It’s been so long since I’ve won,” Kirk said. “I’m going to be plenty nervous, just as nervous as those guys are probably.”

Cole stayed in the mix with his second consecutive round of 66.

“It’s awesome,” Cole said. “I’ve never played this event before. Tried to qualify a bunch of times ... I’m enjoying every minute of it.”

Justin Suh holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the par-4 12th, and is alone in third at 10 under. He shot even-par 70 on Saturday.

Shane Lowry (65) is 9 under, and right in the mix after having a chance to win the Honda last year until the 72nd hole. He’s tied with Ben Taylor (69).

“If I can just hang around all day, hopefully I can give myself a chance coming down the stretch,” Lowry said. “I think I did what I needed to do today.”

Max Schreiber ,

Among those lurking: defending champion Sepp Straka, who followed opening rounds of 69 and 68 with a 66 on Saturday. He’s 7 under for the week, six shots back. It was Straka’s sixth consecutive round in the 60’s at PGA National.

“It’s a tough test, but if you’re hitting it good, you can score,” Straka said.

Straka went to Georgia, as did Kirk. When Straka got his first win at Honda a year ago, Kirk was one of the players who braved an intense rainstorm to congratulate Straka when it was over.

“We stay together all the time. He’s usually the guy that gets us a house,” Straka said. “I’ve gotten to know Chris very well over the last few years, one of my best friends. He’s been playing great golf for a couple years now. It’s not surprising to me, especially around this course.”

Sunday is a big day for two players with a shot of qualifying for The Players Championship by getting into the top 50 in the world. Min Woo Lee struggled to a 73 on Saturday and is tied for 58th at even par through 54 holes; Adrian Meronk is tied for 20th at 4 under.

Lee started the week No. 47; Meronk started No. 53.

DIVOTS: Ryan Brehm (64) made a big move Saturday, starting the round tied for 60th and finishing tied for 15th at 5-under 205. ... Akshay Bhatia needed a new outfit after . He went shirtless for the shot – one of two shirtless escapades during his round — getting covered in mud, and his girlfriend brought him a change of clothes. “It was really gross. Really, really gross,” Bhatia said

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2023 Honda Classic leaderboard, grades: Chris Kirk breaks eight-year drought with emotional playoff win

Kirk battled nerves, treachery and a pesky pursuer en route to his fifth career victory.

Chris Kirk was the last man standing at the 2023 Honda Classic as he successfully fended off a feisty Eric Cole in a playoff for his fifth career PGA Tour victory and first win in more than eight years. The final pairing went back-and-forth Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, as a featherweight bout unfolded on the grounds of PGA National. Two players in their mid-30s entered the ring and only one remained when play was completed.

Beginning the final round with a two-stroke lead, Kirk quickly extended his margin to three with an opening birdie. Cole hit him with a few body punches of his own as he rattled off three straight birdies from Nos. 3-5 to draw even.

This seesaw battle would continue into the inward nine as Cole jumped out in front for the first time all day with another birdie on the par-4 13th. A bogey two holes later knocked him off balance and a counterpunch by Kirk on the 16th in the form of a birdie put the former Bulldog in command with two to play.

After an exchange of pars, the two both found the fairway on the 72nd hole before Kirk's second shot landed in the water. When Cole was unable to get-up-and-down for his birdie, Kirk tapped in for bogey to force a playoff.

Winning is hard. Leading by one, Chris Kirk’s approach finds the water on 18 @TheHondaClassic . pic.twitter.com/8cZvdpT5LR — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 26, 2023

In extra holes, Kirk put himself behind the eight ball when his missed the fairway, but a successful layup set the stage. From 101 yards out, the 37-year-old stuck his approach to tap-in distance. Once Cole's birdie bid from 10 feet away lipped out, Kirk's fifth victory was finally his.

"I was obviously very, very nervous today having not won in so long coming down the stretch," Kirk said. "I felt good, that putt on 16 was huge and I was in a great position on 18. I just made a bad swing at a bad time, but I was trying to stay aggressive and hit it in the middle of the green. In hindsight it may have been better to hit it over there left somewhere, but thank God it worked out."

GOLF SHOT. @Chris_Kirk_ nearly holes out for eagle and will have a tap-in birdie @TheHondaClassic . Eric Cole will have to get up-and-down from a green side bunker to force another playoff hole. pic.twitter.com/46OSaUhL9M — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 26, 2023

From a broader perspective, the PGA Tour could not have scripted a better tournament following two designated events on the West Coast. Even though the field lacked star power relative to those at TPC Scottsdale and Riviera, the storylines were still abundant. Between Kirk and Cole battling it out down the stretch at a treacherous golf course and a player such as Ryan Gerard attempting to go from Monday qualifying to winning on the PGA Tour, this "regular" event brought the heat.

"I can't yet [describe this moment]," Kirk said. "I just have so much to be thankful for. I am so grateful, I am so grateful for my sobriety, I am so grateful for my family, I am so grateful for everyone who has supported me throughout the past three or four years."

While a $3.6 million top prize in a designated event is wonderful and brings out the best in the top players, a quality outing to players in this field is arguably more meaningful. For Gerard it meant a spot in the field next week at the Puerto Rico Open. For Cole it meant job security in the form of much-needed FedEx Cup points.

Finally, for Kirk it means the climb since taking an indefinite leave in 2019 to seek help in his battle against alcohol is complete.

"I think more than the time [since my last win], just how much my life has changed in that time, getting close to four years of sobriety, and that is the reason why I'm able to play," said Kirk. "It's the reason why I have such a great relationship with my family. Everything that I have is because of that. I have to remember that first and foremost, and it'll sink in eventually, but it certainly hasn't right now."

It also means a trip back to Georgia. No, not to his alma mater in Athens, but rather to Augusta National where Kirk will be invited to the 2023 Masters for the fourth time in his career and first time since 2016. Grade: A+

Here is the breakdown of the rest of the leaderboard at the 2023 Honda Classic

T5. Sepp Straka (-9): The defending champion began his weekend with four straight birdies in his third round but was unable to fully claw his way back into contention. The good news for Straka is this finish marks his best result on the PGA Tour since falling in a playoff to Mackenzie Hughes at the Sanderson Farms Championship. The Austrian has been known as a player to go on mini-spurts when he finds his form -- just look at last year's FedEx Cup Playoffs -- and another could be in his near future. Grade: A-

T5. Shane Lowry (-9): It has been a slow start to 2023 for the Irishman but the Honda Classic was another step in the right direction. Finding something at Riviera, Lowry carried some mojo from the West Coast to the state of Florida. Lowry was unable to avenge his runner-up performance from a season ago, yet will still take solace in this performance. His stellar tee-to-green acumen has now been on display for two straight weeks leaving him only the putter -- which has been a problem area for the last eight months -- to figure out. Grade: B+

T40. Billy Horschel (-2): The former Florida Gator began the week admitting he was under the weather and resistant to swing changes. Horschel shot out to a share of the first-round lead with a 5-under 65 but immediately backtracked on Friday with a round of 3 over. This back-and-forth, up-and-down performance encapsulates Horschel's start to 2023. There has been some good, but the bad has outweighed it as he has yet to collect a top-20 finish in five tournaments. Grade: C

T40. Sungjae Im (-2): A heavy playing schedule may be beginning to catch up to the South Korean. Since the calendar flipped to 2023, Im has only taken only one tournament off (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and is scheduled to play five straight weeks by the time The Players Championship concludes. He was the clear class of this field and while his off-the-tee numbers were promising, his approach and putting metrics were equally discouraging. Grade: C-

MC. Denny McCarthy (-): He lives down the street from PGA National so the early exit was not too much of a burden on his travel plans. McCarthy remains winless on the PGA Tour and the relatively weak field at the Honda Classic appeared prime for his breakthrough moment. He was unable to recover from a 5-over 75 in Round 1 and will instead search elsewhere for his first victory. Grade: F

Rick Gehman is joined by Greg DuCharme, Mark Immelman and Patrick McDonald to recap the 2023 Honda Classic at PGA National and take a look at what happened at LIV Mayakoba. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Chris Kirk’s ‘best shot of his career’ leads to 6th PGA Tour victory at The Sentry

Kirk had to outlast the rest of The Sentry’s field, but it was enough for him to win his sixth PGA Tour win and first of the 2024 season

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Share All sharing options for: Chris Kirk’s ‘best shot of his career’ leads to 6th PGA Tour victory at The Sentry

There was a sprint to the end as so many players at The Sentry field went low on Sunday. However, it was the 54-hole leader, Chris Kirk, who was able to outlast them all.

He led by one entering the final round at Kapalua's Plantation course in Maui, Hawaii. To earn his 6th PGA Tour win, Kirk posted a bogey-free 8-under 65 to finish at 29-under overall.

While his eight birdies were impressive on Sunday, it was the one on 17 that sealed the deal. He was just glad he didn’t have the honor on that hole or the iconic moment wouldn't have happened.

Thankfully, one of the guys he played with, Akshay Bhatia, took his time to understand the wind, and it switched Kirk's decision from a 7-iron and he decided to "choke up on a 5-iron.”

“Yeah, that shot on 17 was crazy, one of the best shots of my career, for sure,” he said. “I’m very proud, very, very proud of that shot, that I was able to make the right call — talk about a tough shot to commit to. When you’re about to pull 7 and end up hitting 5, that doesn’t happen ever. That never happens.”

With two to play ... Chris Kirk sticks it to two feet for birdie and the lead @TheSentry . pic.twitter.com/SdvixsUVZV — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 8, 2024

Kirk had people press him all day long on Sunday. Sahith Theegala, Jordan Spieth, and others would take or share the lead but couldn't hold onto it.

Theegala was one of the players who challenged Kirk throughout the day. He had a shot at the win, but a poor tee shot on 17 and a lip-out miss on 18 for birdie ultimately cost him the tournament. He finished his day with a 10-under 63, one shot back of Kirk.

But by the time Kirk got to 17, that birdie was all he needed to secure the win.

"That's the only time I've made a significant putt to win a TOUR event, and that was an amazing, amazing feeling," Kirk said. "No matter how I felt, no matter how nervous I was, there was nothing stopping me from hitting great shots, hitting great putts. I was able to remind myself that before every shot, and that one on 17, I'll remember for a long time."

The former Georgia Bulldog did a lot of work this offseason with his game and his mindset to prepare for this season. Those changes helped him start the year 1-0.

"It's unreal. It's just so unexpected," Kirk said. "I had a really great off-season, and I got a lot of good work done and felt good about the year, but you never really expect to go shoot 29-under. Yeah, it's unbelievable. Still kind of soaking it in."

Kirk's short game was on point as the 38-year-old led the field in strokes gained around the green and in scrambling as he was successful 11-of-12 times. He was also No. 1 in strokes gained total, picking up 10.459 strokes on the other players.

The ability to pick up those shots came when he needed it most.

Kirk won the Honda Classic last February to earn a spot in this year's field, and now he can rebook his reservation. The 38-year-old is the first to know that he will be in Maui for the 2025 Sentry.

He is also the early 2024 FedEx Cup leader, earning 700 points in the first Signature event of the year. Kirk is in the field for the Sony Open in Honolulu, Hawaii, next week, where he will tee it up in paradise looking for another victory.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

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Chris Kirk holds off Spieth, Theegala for 2024’s first PGA Tour title at the Sentry

Chris Kirk is the PGA Tour's first winner of 2024.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Everything was going right for Chris Kirk.

Last year’s Honda Classic winner was making birdie after birdie at Kapalua’s Plantation course , extending the one-shot lead he began the day out to two and even three.

But everyone else was rolling too during a crazy low-scoring week at the Sentry.

By the time Kirk reached the 15th hole, he was six under for the day, 27 under for the week, but he was tied with Jordan Spieth and trailing Sahith Theegala by one.

However, he never waivered in making the game look easy, knocking it on par-5 in two and making an easy birdie before delivering a knockout blow two holes later.

From 209 yards, Kirk’s five-iron never left the flag as it landed a few paces short of the green and rolled out to just two-and-a-half feet from the cup.

With two to play … Chris Kirk sticks it to two feet for birdie and the lead @TheSentry . pic.twitter.com/SdvixsUVZV — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 8, 2024

He then coasted down the 18th with a par to come home with a 65 and win the Sentry at 29 under, collecting his sixth career PGA Tour title.

“Just kind of kept reminding myself of no matter how I felt, no matter how nervous I was, there was nothing really stopping me from hitting great shots, hitting great putts,” Kirk said. “And I was able to kind of remind myself of that before every shot and that one on 17 I’ll remember for a long time.”

‘I thank God that alcohol won’t be part of it’: Chris Kirk opens up on his fight

Kirk’s win at Kapalua comes in his first attempt at the PGA Tour’s year-opening event in eight years after he punched his ticket to Maui by winning the Palm Beach event last spring. That was his first victory in almost eight years, a time during which he left the game for a period in 2019 while he dealt with alcoholism.

His breakthrough last year helped him finish in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings, giving him entry into all of the PGA Tour’s $20 million Signature events for this season.

Now he’ll get to cash one of the $3.6 million first-place checks from the first of those eight events.

“I’m just enjoying competing, I’m enjoying the work, I love, I didn’t have that for awhile and to be back to loving what I do,” Kirk said. “I love the process of working to be the best player that I can when I’m working on that, and then … working on being as good of a father and husband as I can when I’m off the golf course. It’s a constant process and I’m just loving every minute of it.”

But it wasn’t without a challenge as Kapalua played to a scoring average of 66.7 Sunday, the lowest single round in the event’s history, besting the record set Friday by nearly a shot. As Kirk failed to birdie 12, 13 and the drivable par-4 14th, Spieth and Theegala made their moves.

Jordan's ball on 16. Just bury me there too pic.twitter.com/lNagLSUdnS — Jack Hirsh (@JR_HIRSHey) January 7, 2024

Spieth, who started the day three back, birdie 10, 11, 14 and 15 to grab a share of the lead, but drove into a bunker on 16 and made bogey after his ball was plugged under the lip.

Theegala meanwhile birdied the 16th a group ahead, his fourth in a row, to grab the solo lead himself before Kirk equalized him at 28 under on 15. Needing a birdie at the last to put the pressure on Kirk, the 26-year-old who got his first win last fall at the Fortinet Championship couldn’t get up and down from in front of the green in two, missing a 10-footer.

Theegala ended up with a 63 Sunday, one of four scores of that number or better posted in the final round. One of the others belonged to Sungjae Im, who in finishing T5 at 25 under, set a new PGA Tour record for most birdies in a 72-hole event with 34.

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Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at [email protected] .

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Chris Kirk wins PGA Tour's season-opening Sentry

Associated Press

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- Chris Kirk finds pure joy in golf from the work that's required and how hard it is to succeed, and Sunday at The Sentry was plenty difficult.

A dozen players were lined up behind him, all of them capable of ripping off a low one. The conditions were so placid that the final round at Kapalua produced the lowest scoring average (66.67) since the PGA Tour started keeping detailed records in 1983.

Tougher still was being tied for the lead, 209 yards away on the 17th hole with a gorge between him and the flag and a light wind that felt like it was blowing both directions.

Kirk went from a 7-iron to a 5-iron and hit what he considers the best shot of his career to 2 feet for birdie that sent him to an 8-under 65 and a 1-shot victory over Sahith Theegala .

"When you're about to pull 7 and you end up hitting 5, that doesn't happen ever. That never happens," he said. "So to be able to commit to it like I did and make that good of a swing was an incredible feeling."

Kirk is happy to be competing again after stepping away in 2019 for alcoholism and depression, and he capped his long journey back last year by winning the Honda Classic. This was another big step, beating a world-class field on a day when any miss was costly.

Theegala stayed with him step for step until his 10-foot birdie putt swirled in and out of the cup, forcing him to settle for a 63. Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead when his tee shot on the 16th plugged into the sand right below the lip, in effect a 1-shot penalty. He narrowly missed a 15-foot eagle on the final hole and shot 65 to finish third.

Kirk started the final round with a 1-shot lead and had to post 65 to win by 1. That was hard work. And there was a lot of joy beneath that emotionless demeanor.

There was a time when golf meant nothing to him as he cared only about salvaging a life that had become dependent on drink.

"I love the process of working to be the best player that I can when I'm working on that, and then working on being as good of a father and husband as I can when I'm off the golf course," he said. "It's a constant process and I'm just loving every minute of it."

It was the third straight year the winner at Kapalua posted a Sunday round of 8 under or better, and Kirk required no less to win the PGA Tour's season opener. Theegala started 2 shots behind, shot 63 and it wasn't quite enough.

"It's really hard to be sad or upset about having a nice Sunday round," Theegala said. "Parring the last hole leaves a little bit of a sour taste. Honestly, nothing but positives. I felt like I stayed in it until the very end."

Kirk was tied when he hit 5-iron over the gorge to a right pin on the 17th, the ball rolling out to just over 2 feet for a tap-in birdie on the toughest hole on the back nine of the Plantation course. That allowed him to play the 18th conservatively, knowing a par would be enough for his sixth career PGA Tour victory.

He finished at 29-under 263 and earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse, the first of eight signature events in the new PGA Tour model of big purses and elite fields.

The 38-year-old from Georgia looks as relaxed as anyone, a good fit for the islands. His greatest win remains his recovery from alcoholism and depression, which led to him stepping away for six months of treatment in 2019.

The PGA Tour honored him with its Courage Award -- he was only the sixth recipient -- at the end of last season. There was no better way to start the new year.

The victory assures him a spot in the Masters -- he was just outside the top 50 in the world at the end of last season -- and allows him to book a return trip to Kapalua to start next year. He was making his first appearance at The Sentry in eight years.

"I'm so thankful for these last five years. It's been incredible," Kirk said.

Spieth, who won in 2016 at Kapalua, stayed in the hunt all day with his five straight birdies around the turn. He caught up to Kirk and Theegala with birdies at the 14th and 15th. And then his chances all but ended with one swing on the 16th.

"It was a full shot [penalty] at a pretty pivotal time," Spieth said. "But I've got to be a little tighter off the tee."

Kirk could sense the importance of every putt, and the pressure mounted when he missed a good birdie chance on the reachable 14th with a pedestrian pitch and then missed a pair of putts from 12 feet -- for eagle on No. 15 and birdie on No. 16.

But he delivered the key shot on the 17th, a birdie that gave him comfort playing the 18th and its spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the island of Molokai on the horizon.

Sungjae Im managed to get into the PGA Tour record books with 34 birdies for the week. The previous record for a 72-hole tournament was 32 set three times, most recently last year by Jon Rahm . That illustrates what kind of test the Plantation course has become.

'Reserved for special people:' PGA Tour winner Chris Kirk receives Tour's Courage Award

Former university of georgia player began his road back on the golf course with a 2020 korn ferry tour victory at the king & bear in st. augustine.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Chris Kirk completed his comeback from alcoholism and depression on the golf course by winning the Honda Classic in February, his fifth PGA Tour title and the first in nearly eight years.

But he achieves his greatest victory every morning when he wakes up with another day of sobriety behind him.

“I am so blessed and thankful to currently live a life better than I could have ever imagined,” Kirk said on Tuesday after receiving the PGA Tour’s Courage Award from Commissioner Jay Monahan in a surprise presentation at the Sea Island Club, the site of this week’s RSM Classic. “Just the mental clarity that I wake up with every day is an absolute blessing and a gift.”

Kirk received the Courage Award trophy and a $25,000 donation from the Tour for the charity of his choice (matched by RSM, one of Kirk’s sponsors and the title sponsor for this week’s Tour event at Sea Island) on the 10th anniversary of his victory at Sea Island, a dazzling display of ball-striking and putting in which he shot 66 three times.

Kirk went on to win a FedEx Cup playoff event and the Tour’s historic invitational at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. He held the 54-hole lead at the 2015 Players Championship. He had the smooth swing and the putting stroke to compete every week and that's what he loved to do: compete.

But the pressure came at a cost — he said he was so consumed with winning and trying to play perfect golf that he turned to alcohol instead of his family and friends.

Chris Kirk made excuses to drink

Almost all of Kirk’s drinking on the road was alone, in a hotel room. But when he was with friends and family, any occasion called for a drink: with meals, going to the beach and even the simple act of retiring for the night — Kirk would need a drink before trying to sleep.

His wife, Tahnee, finally heard the admission from her husband she had been waiting to hear in May of 2019 when he returned from the Tour’s event in New Orleans.

“He said he was taking an indefinite break and that’s when I knew he was serious,” she said. “To walk away from something he loves and has worked his whole life at doing was the biggest step for him.”

Kirk took six months off for his recovery — the time his wife said was the worst — and didn’t touch a golf club during that span. But Kirk said he did what he should have done in the first place: lean on his family, friends and fellow PGA Tour players.

He found out very soon after making his decision to stop drinking and seek help that they were there for him. RSM stood behind him as a sponsor. Monahan and the PGA Tour staff stood ready to help him in any way they could. His fellow players rallied around him. And his family embraced him.

“Nobody was concerned about my golf career at the time,” Kirk said. “I could feel, that, with absolute sincerity … ‘we’re here for you, to help you with anything. My golf career was very irrelevant at the time, so that was incredible.”

Chris Kirk is surrounded by love

Kirk said he’s made it a point during his recovery to surround himself with people, to avoid situations where he’s on the road and alone. His solution was to get a batch of fellow Tour players to go in with him on rental homes, where the evenings involve barbecues, Yahtzee and card games.

“My first couple of years back, I didn’t stay by myself, ever,” he said. “I had all those bad memories of sitting by myself in a hotel room and I just said I was not willing to do that anymore. I’m the house dad that rents and four- or five-bedroom house every week … you shoot 65, you get a bunch of ‘atta boys,’ you shoot 74 and nobody really cares. You just come hang out and see if you can do a little bit better at Texas Hold ‘Em than you did on the golf course that day. It’s a really great environment I feel like we’ve created.”

When Kirk was presented with the award at the Sea Island Media Center, the room was crowded with the people who had been there for him: his family, RSM representatives, Tour staff and Tour players such as tournament host Davis Love III, Brian Harman, Keith Mitchell, Patton Kizzire, Russell Henley, Brendon Todd and Denny McCarthy.

“I’m very thankful for the people who are in this room and how much they mean to me,” Kirk said. “I hope they see that and feel that was often as possible. I feel incredibly, incredibly blessed to have these people.”

Harman said Kirk’s friends feel an immense sense of pride for him in what he’s faced and beaten back.

“Having the courage, the wherewithal and the awareness to do what he’s done … it’s a disease that’s touched everyone’s family at some point,” Harman said. “Everyone knows somebody, everyone knows a terrible story, and this is one of the good ones. We’re here for Chris and we’re going to support him. We’re really proud of him.”

Winning at King & Bear made golf fun again

Kirk said a major milestone for him came nearly three years before his victory at the Honda Classic. When the PGA Tour resumed its schedule after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korn Ferry Tour put together two tournaments on the First Coast, at the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and the King & Bear.

Kirk played at the King & Bear event. On a week where the temperatures soared and the scores were low, Kirk shot 26-under to win by one shot, with four rounds of 67 or lower. He needed to make a testy up-and-down for birdie at No. 18 to preserve the victory.

There were no fans and a small media contingent, which Kirk said was exactly what he needed.

“Mentally it was like starting all over again,” he said of that week. “I just kind of realized that I love playing golf and I love competing. I love trying to go beat people. That Korn Ferry event in St. Augustine was pure … let’s go have fun and let’s go make some birdies.”

Courage Award for ‘special people’

It took him 20 more months to win on the PGA Tour but at this point, Kirk isn’t counting money or points measures of success.

The most valuable currency to him is what he called those mornings of clarity.

“Sometimes I wonder why but it’s been amazing to have this group of people around he that I know don’t care if I shoot 67 or 75,” he said.

Monahan made an important point in presenting the Courage Award to Kirk: it’s not annual. Two-time heart transplant recipient Erik Compton received the first award in 2013 and Kirk is only the sixth in the 10-year span.

“It’s reserved for very special circumstances and equally special people,” Monahan said.

Also honored have been the late Jarrod Lyle, a Tour player who died in 2018 of cancer; Gene Sauers, who recovered from Stevens-Johnson syndrome and was given a 25 percent chance of survival; Morgan Hoffmann, who is attempting a comeback from muscular dystrophy; and D.J. Gregory, who was born with cerebral palsy but has walked more than 14,000 miles at PGA Tour events and raised more than $1 million for charity.

Chris kirk holds off late challengers to win pga tour's first event of 2024 at the sentry in hawaii, share this article.

After missing out on the Tour Championship in August, Chris Kirk rested during the off-season by working on his golf game – as a left-hander rather than as a righty, shooting a low score of 82.

“It’s really hard left-handed,” he said. “Really hard.”

Kirk, who won the Ben Hogan Award as the college player of the year, has been making the game look easy for years. His graceful, fluid swing as a right-hander long has produced his trademark natural draw and it delivered in crunch time on Sunday in the final round of the PGA Tour’s season-opening tournament, The Sentry, in Kapalua, Hawaii.

The 38-year-old veteran pro was tied for the lead at the 17 th hole at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course and facing 209 yards to the green at the toughest hole on the back nine. With the wind, which had been non-existent all week, picking up he switched from a 7-iron to a 5-iron and struck a beauty that bounced on the fringe and rolled to inside 3 feet to set up the winning birdie.

“That one on 17, I’ll remember for a long time,” he said. “One of the best shots of my career, for sure.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Chris Kirk (@chris_kirk_)

Nursing a one-stroke lead after 54 holes, Kirk capped off a bogey-free 9-under 64 on Sunday to win his sixth PGA Tour title with a 72-hole total of 29-under 263 and one-stroke better than Sahith Theegala.

“Just kind of kept reminding myself of no matter how I felt, no matter how nervous I was, there was nothing really stopping me from hitting great shots, hitting great putts, and I was able to kind of remind myself of that before every shot,” Kirk said.

Kirk returned to Kapalua this week for the first time since 2016, booking his trip last February at the Honda Classic, where he won for the first time in nearly eight years. In November, Kirk, who took a leave of absence from the Tour in May 2019 to address issues with alcohol abuse and depression, received the PGA Tour Courage Award.

During the final round in paradise, Kirk said he was nervous but he never showed it. The lack of wind left the Plantation Course vulnerable, and the pros attacked. The final-round scoring average of 66.7 was the lowest single-round average on Tour on record (dating to 1983), on the par-73 layout. Justin Rose equaled the course record with a 12-under 61. Sungjae Im closed in 10-under 63 and set a record with 34 birdies, the most in a 72-hole tournament since 1983. Kirk birdied four holes in a five-hole stretch on the front nine to maintain a narrow lead, but Theegala birdied four in a row on both nines to keep the pressure on Kirk. Theegala caught Kirk with a birdie at 15 to get to 27 under and one group later Spieth made birdie at 15 to make it a three-way tie at the top. Theegala made his fourth birdie in a row and fifth in his last six holes at 16 to take sole possession of the lead at the time, but he lipped out for birdie on 18 that could have forced a playoff.

“I knew I just needed to keep making birdies and there was a bunch of chances, especially with the wind laying down,” Theegala said. “Really wish I could have had that second shot on 18 back. It’s not how it works.”

Spieth was done in by a bad break at 16, where his tee shot plugged in a bunker and he made bogey. He closed in 65 and finished third.

Kirk stayed cool and calm to win the shootout, playing with “more self-belief than I’ve had in years,” he said. Along the way, he’s rediscovered his love of the game.

“Had it for a long time and then lost it,” he said. “I lost the joy of most things in life for awhile there. But, yeah, it’s certainly back. I think I just love how hard this is. Like, it’s so hard to be great at this, and I love the process that it takes. I love the work that it takes to try to be the best version of myself. I definitely have fallen back in love with that process, and sometimes you get rewarded for it, like today, and sometimes you don’t.”

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Chris Kirk’s late birdie leads to one-stroke victory in The Sentry to open PGA season

Chris Kirk of the United States hoisted the trophy after winning The Sentry to open the PGA Tour season.

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Chris Kirk finds pure joy in golf from the work that’s required and how hard it is to succeed, and Sunday at The Sentry was plenty difficult.

A dozen players were lined up behind him, all of them capable of ripping off a low one. The conditions were so placid the final round at Kapalua produced the lowest scoring average (66.67) since the PGA Tour started keeping detailed records in 1983.

Tougher still was being tied for the lead, 209 yards away on the 17th hole with a gorge between him and the flag and a light wind that felt like it was blowing both directions.

Kirk went from a 7-iron to a 5-iron and hit what he considers the best shot of his career to 2 feet for birdie that sent him to an 8-under-par 65 and a one-shot victory over Sahith Theegala.

“When you’re about to pull 7 and you end up hitting 5, that doesn’t happen ever. That never happens,” he said. “So to be able to commit to it like I did and make that good of a swing was an incredible feeling.”

Theegala stayed with him step for step until his 10-foot birdie putt swirled in and out of the cup, forcing him to settle for a 63. Jordan Spieth was tied for the lead when his tee shot on the 16th plugged into the sand right below the lip, effectively a one-shot penalty. He narrowly missed a 15-foot eagle on the final hole and shot 65 to finish third.

Kirk started the final round with a one-shot lead and had to post 65 to win by one. That was hard work. And there was a lot of joy beneath that emotionless demeanor.

There was a time when golf meant nothing to him as he cared only about salvaging a life that had become dependent on the drink.

“I love the process of working to be the best player that I can when I’m working on that, and then working on being as good of a father and husband as I can when I’m off the golf course,” he said. “It’s a constant process and I’m just loving every minute of it.”

It was the third straight year the winner at Kapalua posted a Sunday round of 8 under or better, and Kirk required no less to win the PGA Tour’s season opener. Theegala started two shots behind, shot 63, and it wasn’t quite enough.

“It’s really hard to be sad or upset about having a nice Sunday round,” Theegala said. “Parring the last hole leaves a little bit of a sour taste. Honestly, nothing but positives. I felt like I stayed in it until the very end.”

He finished at 29-under 263 and earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse, the first of eight signature events in the new PGA Tour model of big purses and elite fields.

The PGA Tour honored him with its “Courage Award” — he was only the sixth recipient — at the end of last season. There was no better way to start the new year.

The victory assures him a spot in the Masters — he was just outside the top 50 in the world at the end of last year — and allows him to book a return trip to Kapalua to start next year. He was making his first appearance at The Sentry in eight years.

“I’m so thankful for these last five years. It’s been incredible,” Kirk said.

“It was a full shot (penalty) at a pretty pivotal time,” Spieth said. “But I’ve got to be a little tighter off the tee.”

But he delivered the key shot on the 17th, a birdie that gave him comfort playing the 18th and its spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean and the island of Molokai on the horizon.

Sungjae Im managed to get into the PGA Tour record books with 34 birdies for the week. The previous record for a 72-hole tournament was 32 set three times, most recently last year by Jon Rahm. That illustrates what kind of test the Plantation course has become.

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Honda Classic

Chris Kirk's resurgence, Shane Lowry's heavy heart, and Ben Taylor's conflicting interests

Chris Kirk hits his first shot on the fourth hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa.

Douglas P. DeFelice

On paper, heading into Sunday at the Honda Classic, Chris Kirk, who leads Eric Cole by two shots and Justin Suh by three, should be the most comfortable of the top three. The 37-year-old veteran has played in more than 300 PGA Tour events, with four career wins. He has played on a U.S. Presidents Cup team and has more than $23 million in career earnings. Cole and Suh, on the other hand, have just one career top-10 between them, combining for just more than $1 million in career earnings.

Except Kirk doesn’t see it that way. After shooting a third-round four-under 66 at PGA National’s Champion course to grab his sixth career 54-lead or co-lead, Kirk was asked about his experience relative to that of his closest pursuers.

“Yeah, it’s probably not that different of a feeling,” Kirk said. “It’s been so long since I’ve won. I’m going to be plenty nervous, just as nervous as those guys are probably.”

It’s refreshing honesty from a guy who is looking to jumpstart the second half of his career. The Athens, Ga., native is making his 179th start since his last tour win at the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge. In the eight years since, Kirk has looked to regain the form that gave him so much early career success, highlighted by a Presidents Cup appearance in 2015.

As the winless drought might indicate, there’s been some adversity to overcome for Kirk, who in 2019 took a six-month leave from the tour to seek treatment for alcohol abuse and depression . Competing in just 11 events in 2020, Kirk, who was playing on a major medical exemption, came to the 2021 Sony Open needing a top-three finish to maintain full tour status. He shot four rounds of 65 to finish tied for second and keep his card.

Chris Kirk blasts from a bunker on the sixth hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa.

A couple years on, the University of Georgia alum has had a strong start to 2023, recording a pair of top-three finishes at the Sony Open and The American Express. That recent experience being in contention, he says, will serve him well going into Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

"I think more so than my four wins on tour, I'll be able to draw from how well I played at Sony and Amex,” Kirk said after closing his third round with birdies on 17 and 18. “I didn't win any of those events, but I felt like I really played great, and got pretty comfortable in that situation in the heat. So I think that if I just continue to go do my job and go execute, then there's no reason why it shouldn't turn out different this time."

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He’ll be joined in the final group by Cole, who is coming off his best career tour finish at Pebble Beach (T-15). The 34-year-old rookie is the son of tour winner Bobby Cole, who won the 1977 Buick Open. His mother, Laura Baugh, won the 1971 U.S. Women’s Amateur and was the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year. What’s more, his grandfather, Hale Baugh, competed in the pentathlon in the 1948 Olympics.

Talk about athletic genes. Cole made four back-nine birdies to shoot 66 on moving day to get within one of Kirk. Though he doesn’t share the same experience of winning at the game’s highest level, Cole has won more than 50 times on various mini tours, something he says he’ll draw upon on Sunday.

"It's the same, but it is different,” Cole said. “It's a bigger stage and stuff, but the golf ball doesn't know the difference, and I'm just going to try and keep kind of executing the way I have the first three days, and I think it should take care of itself.”

Sitting in third at 10 under is Suh, the former top-ranked amateur in the world and a member of the Class of 2019, which also includes Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff. Though the former All-American at USC has taken longer to adjust at the professional level, earning his tour card as the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, he is well-positioned to join his classmates as tour winners.

Justin Suh hits his first shot on the fourth hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa.

"I thought we hit the ball great today,” Suh said after hitting 15 of 18 greens to shoot an even-par 70. “We were putting it in the fairway, hitting greens. The hole looked pretty small today. Couldn't make any putts. I was hitting it with good speed and just kept on reading it wrong.”

The stats confirm Suh’s assessment. A day after gaining nearly four shots on the field on the greens, Suh lost nearly that many, ranking 78th out of the 80 players who made the cut in strokes gained/putting in the third round. In fact, his lone hole under par came at the par-4 12th, where he holed his 153-yard approach for an eagle.

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It was the par-5 18th that best encapsulated Suh’s day, as he was on the back fringe in two shots, with an outside chance at a closing eagle. Instead of making birdie to close within one of Kirk, Suh took three putts, including a missed three-footer, to finish with par. Still, it remains his best career 54-hole position as he looks to fulfill the lofty expectations that his amateur career warranted.

Here are two other takeaways from Day 3 of the Honda Classic:

Shane Lowry’s emotional week

Shane Lowry of Ireland lines up a putt on the second hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa.

Sam Greenwood

After shooting a five-under 65, the second-lowest round of the day, to get within four strokes of the lead, Shane Lowry had just one wish. “I just hope it doesn't rain tomorrow,” the 2019 Open champion said.

It might seem like a strange comment if not for this context: Last year at this event, playing in the final group with Daniel Berger, Lowry held the lead late on the back nine on Sunday. Standing on the 18th tee, in fact, the Irishman was tied for the lead with Sepp Straka, who was playing in the group ahead.

On what was once a sunny day, the rain began to come down … hard. Straka made birdie and Lowry, who was forced to play the final hole in a downpour, failed to make the birdie needed to force a playoff. After the round, Lowry was understandably shaken up. “Yeah, it's hard to take, to be honest. Feel like I've got the tournament stolen from me today,” Lowry said.

As he looks for his third career tour win, Lowry will not only be trying to overcome last year’s bad fortune, but more importantly, he’ll be looking to win for his late uncle, Jimmy Lowry, who unexpectedly passed away on Thursday.

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“It's a very sad week for our family. To be honest, I wanted to go home on Thursday when I heard the news. A lot of people talked me out of it,” Lowry said. “I'm here now. I'm trying to play for him and play for his wife and his kids and my cousins and my uncles and my aunts and everyone at home because we're a very close family and very proud of our name and very proud of where we come from.”

On Saturday, Lowry was wearing a green and white ribbon on his hat to honor his uncle, a native of Ferbane, Ireland. “Hopefully I can go out and make him proud tomorrow. Everyone keeps telling me how proud he was of me over the last number of years, and hopefully I can do him proud tomorrow," Lowry said.

Ben Taylor’s conflicting interests

Ben Taylor hits his first shot on the fourth hole during the third round of The Honda Classic at PGA National Resort and Spa.

There’s no doubt that Ben Taylor, sitting four back of Kirk, will be looking to overcome the final-round deficit to win his first tour event. The 30-year-old has bounced back and forth between the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour over the last few years, and a victory at PGA National would provide some welcome job security. Though, if he comes up short, he may breathe a sigh of relief.

That’s because the Englishman is to marry his fiancé, Taryn, during the week of the Players Championship, and should Taylor win on Sunday, he would earn a spot in that field. NBC’s Cara Banks reported on the potential conflict during Saturday’s broadcast.

Banks recounted a Friday conversation she had with Taylor: “I said to him yesterday, ‘Ben, what happens if you win this week and get into that field?’ He said, ‘Well, I’d have to miss it probably and prepare for the Masters, but at least that sacrifice would make for a good groom speech.’”

Talk about conflicting interests.

Chris Kirk makes late birdie to take PGA Tour season opener at Kapalua

Chris Kirk holds the champions trophy after the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Chris Kirk hits from the 13th tee during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Chris Kirk tips his cap after the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Chris Kirk misses his shot on the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Sahith Theegala waves on the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Jordan Spieth reacts to missing his shot on the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Chris Kirk tosses his ball to his caddy on the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Sungjae Im walks off the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Scottie Scheffler watches his shot on the second green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Chris Kirk watches his shot on the 14th green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Sahith Theegala hits from the 18th tee during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Sahith Theegala reacts after missing his birdie putt on the 18th green during the final round of The Sentry golf event, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, at Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Chris Kirk finds pure joy in golf from the work that’s required and how hard it is to succeed, and Sunday at The Sentry was plenty difficult.

A dozen players were lined up behind him, all of them capable of ripping off a low one.

The conditions were so placid the average score in the final round at Kapalua was 66.66, making this the lowest average score to par (6.34 under) of any round on the PGA Tour since it began keeping detailed records in 1983.

Tougher still was being tied for the lead, 209 yards away on the 17th hole with a gorge between him and the flag and a light wind that felt like it was blowing both directions.

Kirk went from a 7-iron to a 5-iron and hit what he considers the best shot of his career to 2 feet for birdie that sent him to an 8-under 65 and a one-shot victory over Sahith Theegala.

Jordan Spieth hits his tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the RBC Heritage golf tournament, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Hilton Head, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)