Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition

Kirk is sober, grateful and poised to contend at API

- By Edgar Thompson Email Edgar Thompson at egthompson@orlandosen­tinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.

Heading down the homestretc­h of the Honda Classic, Chris Kirk’s pursuit of his fifth PGA Tour win felt like the first time.

In a way, it was.

Free of alcohol for nearly four years, Kirk had just as much to prove — to himself and his fellow competitor­s — as 34-year-old rookie Eric Cole playing alongside.

Kirk relied on the strength he discovered in sobriety to record his first victory since 2015. He arrived at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitation­al still catching his breath and connecting with well-wishers after the emotional playoff win.

“It was amazing to me to see just the genuine support and how many people were truly happy for me,” Kirk said Tuesday. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

Waking up Monday with clear eyes and a full heart despite a 7:25 a.m. tee time for the Seminole memberpro was a big change from Kirk’s last win in May 2015 at Colonial.

“My life is so different than it was eight years ago, and for the better, obviously,” he said. “So it was emotional for me, no doubt, still is, and something that I really had a lot of years of doubting whether I had it in me to do that again.”

Kirk now arrives poised to contend at brutish Bay Hill, where he and reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatric­k are the only golfers to post top-10 finishes each of the past two years.

Whatever happens, Kirk will be content, his life on track.

In a sport where power often rules, the 6-foot-3 Kirk relies on buttery tempo. Understate­d and stoic on course, he doesn’t turn heads with fist pumps, putter tosses or tantrums.

Kirk’s personal story, though, has touched golf fans on a deeper level.

“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me,” he said. “I’ve been able to connect with a lot of other people that are in similar situations and provide a little bit of insight, maybe, or a few small little tidbits that I can give people of what I’ve done that’s helped me so much.

“It’s an incredible gift that I’ve been given to be able to have my message influence other people in a positive way.”

At the time of his win at Colonial, Kirk was a rising star ranked inside the top 20 for the first time. Off the course he was sinking more deeply into his addiction.

Kirk drank to calm his nerves, quell his anxiety and escape the solitude he experience­d on the road away from his young family back home.

Alcoholism eventually took its toll on his body and golf game, leading an indefinite leave from the Tour in May 2019. Kirk fell out of top 300 by season’s end. In 2020, he briefly fell out of the top 500 and played three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, winning the King & Bear Classic in St. Augustine as his game began to round into form.

The 37-year-old now enters the API ranked No. 32 with three top-3 finishes in four starts in 2023.

After he lost a 1-shot lead at Honda Class with a water ball on the 18th hole, Kirk came back to birdie the hole in the playoff. The longawaite­d victory earned him a trip to the Masters for the first time since 2016.

The tournament has a special place for a former Georgia Bulldog who calls Athens home. Yet, Kirk has not tuned in much since missing the cut the last time he played.

“It’s hard to watch when you’ve played it and you’re not there,” he said.

Kirk’s attention Tuesday was on the API and its namesake.

While starring at Georgia, Kirk played in two Palmer Cups and once spent time with Palmer at the U.S. Amateur. Kirk first teed it up at Bay Hill as a Tour rookie and has missed just two in 12 years, in 2012 for the birth of his son and in 2020 after he failed to qualify.

“It’s always been a really special tournament for me,” Kirk said. “I’m very thankful I have some incredibly fond memories of time spent with Mr. Palmer. It will always be one of the top weeks of the year.”

Even so, it will be tough to top last week in Palm Beach Gardens.

Kirk took home $1.512 million, earned a return trip to Augusta National and completed a personal journey he now willingly shares with the world.

“I didn’t feel like I was done yet,” he said. “I felt like I had a lot to prove, only to myself. I really had a strong, strong desire to prove to myself that I still had what it takes to win out here.”

 ?? LYNNE SLADKY/AP ?? Chris Kirk hits from a bunker onto the third green during the final round of the Honda Classic golf tournament on Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens.
LYNNE SLADKY/AP Chris Kirk hits from a bunker onto the third green during the final round of the Honda Classic golf tournament on Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens.

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