Honda winner Kirk thankful for sobriety
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The emotions came streaming out for Chris Kirk as the final putt in the final Honda Classic settled into the bottom of the cup.
Kirk, four years removed from taking a leave of absence from the PGA Tour to get his life back on track, was a winner again, outlasting Delray Beach’s Eric Cole on the first playoff hole Sunday at PGA National.
“I just have so much to be thankful for,” Kirk said. “I’m so grateful for my sobriety. I’m so grateful for my family. I’m so grateful for everyone that’s supported me throughout the past three or four years especially.”
Kirk gave up the lead on the 18th hole after his second shot hit a stone wall and splashed down just feet from the floating Honda Pilot TrailSport (both players finished 14-under). He then won it on 18 (the first playoff hole) with a birdie.
The win was Kirk’s fifth on the PGA Tour, his first since 2015 at Colonial. The 37-year-old takes home $1.512 million and will go down as the last winner of the Honda Classic. The tournament is seeking a new title sponsor with American Honda ending its sponsorship after 42 years.
Kirk took an indefinite leave from the sport in May 2019 to deal with alcohol abuse and depression. His life was in a downward spiral and he attempted to get it back on track on his own.
It was not working.
He received help and returned after a seven-month break. Kirk then struggled with his golf. That was not important. His life was back in order.
After returning, he played in 11 events in the 2019-20 season and missed five cuts. Kirk had one top-25 finish.
His game slowly has been coming back to form since. From the start of the 2020-21 season to this week, he had 10 top-10 finishes, including a runner-up in the 2021 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Kirk’s last three starts entering Honda: third at the Sony Open in Hawaii, tied for third at The American Express, missed cut at the Phoenix Open.
Kirk open to talking about his past problems
Kirk has never backed away from talking about the darkest days of his life. He has said the reason never was to send a message to others. But when a professional athlete uses his platform to open up about something so personal, that can be powerful and impactful.
“I think more than the time, 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,” he said. “It’s the reason why I have such a great relationship with my family. Everything that I have is because of that.”
And Kirk’s story is being shared. Kirk said Sunday a lot of people that read his story and told him that was the moment they decided to seek help.
“When I first came back to playing and was very open and honest about it, that was not in my mind at all,” he said. “It was more ... it was for me because I felt I had lived this life for a number of years where I was just lying to myself, lying to my family, lying to ... hiding a lot of things. So the honesty of the process that I went through to get better just felt so good that I had nothing to hide and so it was just the natural thing for me to do.
“Now it’s been amazing. To be able to connect with people and hear somebody say, ‘I got sober because of you, and my life has changed because of you.’ you can’t really describe how unreal that is with words.”
So when Kirk is on an emotional roller coaster coming down the stretch of a PGA Tour event, he’s faced more pressure.
He entered the final hole of regulation in control. He ceded that control when the ball narrowly missed dinging the final Honda to be floated off the 18th green.
But he found new life when Cole, seeking his first PGA Tour career win, sent a chip past the hole and into the opposite side fringe up against the rough.
Cole got his par, forcing a playoff after Kirk’s bogey.
Cole regained the advantage off the tee on the first playoff hole when Kirk’s drive landed in the rough and took an unfortunate bounce behind a palm tree. He punched out to 108 yards.
Cole’s adrenaline on playoff hole hurts his shot
Cole was staring at a second shot 242 yards from the flag when his adrenaline got the best of him. He sent the ball past the stick and into a bunker.
Kirk’s approach shot bounced a few feet past the hole and it spun back to 16 inches from the cup. Needing to get up and down out of the bunker, Cole’s shot settled 11 feet from the hole. His putt lipped out.
“I just fought really, really hard today,” Kirk said. “I didn’t play my absolute best, but I never gave up.”
And when it was time to celebrate, with his friend and the defending champion Sepp Straka (the two shared a home for the week), the two will raise their glasses, filled with Diet Coke.
“I thank God that alcohol won’t be a part of it,” Kirk said.