Chris Kirk
| Chris Kirk | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Kirk at TPC Sawgrass in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Christopher Brandon Kirk | ||
| Born | May 8, 1985 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Weight | 175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st) | ||
| Sporting nationality |  United States | ||
| Residence | Athens, Georgia, U.S. | ||
| Spouse | Tahnee | ||
| Career | |||
| College | Georgia | ||
| Turned professional | 2007 | ||
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour | ||
| Former tour(s) | Nationwide Tour | ||
| Professional wins | 7 | ||
| Highest ranking | 16 (May 31, 2015)[1] | ||
| Number of wins by tour | |||
| PGA Tour | 4 | ||
| Korn Ferry Tour | 3 | ||
| Best results in major championships | |||
| Masters Tournament | T20: 2014 | ||
| PGA Championship | T5: 2022 | ||
| U.S. Open | T28: 2014 | ||
| The Open Championship | T19: 2014 | ||
| Achievements and awards | |||
| |||
Christopher Brandon Kirk (born May 8, 1985) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour. He won four tournaments on the PGA Tour between 2011 and 2015. He finished second in the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs and reached a career-high of 16 in the world rankings during 2015.
Early years
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kirk was reared in Woodstock, Georgia. He played college golf at the University of Georgia in Athens and was a member of their 2005 NCAA championship team. He represented the United States in the 2006 Eisenhower Trophy, where he had the joint second-lowest individual score, and in the 2007 Walker Cup. He was the Ben Hogan Award winner as a senior in 2007.
Professional career
Nationwide Tour
Kirk turned professional immediately after the 2007 Walker Cup.[2] He played on the Nationwide Tour for three seasons from 2008 through 2010. He was runner-up in the 2008 Knoxville Open, losing in a playoff to Jarrod Lyle.[3] Kirk had a very successful season in 2010. Early in the season he lost to Jim Herman in a playoff for the Moonah Classic and was a runner-up in the BMW Charity Pro-Am.[4] In June he won the Fort Smith Classic, his first Nationwide Tour title,[5] and followed this up with his second win at the Knoxville News Sentinel Open in August.[6] Kirk finished the season second on the Nationwide Tour money list to earn his 2011 PGA Tour card, despite missing the end of the season with a wrist injury.[7]
PGA Tour
As a PGA Tour rookie, Kirk finished joint second to Phil Mickelson at the Shell Houston Open in April 2011. Later that year, Kirk won his first tour event, the Viking Classic, an alternate event played the same weekend as The Open Championship. He finished a stroke ahead of runners-up George McNeill and Tom Pernice Jr., and the victory automatically qualified him for the PGA Championship, where he finished in a tie for 34th place. In his debut season on the PGA Tour, Kirk had four top-10s and finished 42nd in the end of season FedEx Cup standings to retain his card for 2012.
In 2012, Kirk played in 27 events and only missed six cuts, including four top-10 finishes and best of T-4 at the RBC Canadian Open. He had a similarly very solid season in 2013, missing only four cuts, with three top-10 finishes. He finished runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, after shooting 64-66 on the weekend to finish two shots behind Brandt Snedeker.
Kirk earned his second PGA Tour win at the McGladrey Classic in November 2013, which was part of the new wrap-around season for 2014. He prevailed by one stroke over Briny Baird and Tim Clark. The win qualified Kirk for his first Masters; the Viking Classic, which was Kirk's first victory on tour, was an alternate event and did not include a Masters invitation. 2014, Kirk won the second event of the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston for his third PGA Tour title, and jumped from 17th in FedEx Cup rankings to first. He finished tied for fourth in The Tour Championship, the first time he had qualified for the event, to end the season second on the FedEx Cup standings behind Billy Horschel, winning three million dollars. Kirk missed out on selection for the 2014 Ryder Cup. He finished 14th in the Ryder Cup points list to miss out on automatic selection. The three captain's picks were announced by Tom Watson immediately after Kirk's win in the Deutsche Bank Championship. The picks did not include Kirk or Billy Horschel, who had finished joint runner-up, leading to some criticism of both the selections and the selection process.[8]
In 2015, Kirk won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He shot 65-66 over the weekend to finish one stroke ahead of runners-up Jason Bohn, Brandt Snedeker and Jordan Spieth. Kirk holed a six-foot (1.8 m) putt for par on the final green to claim the victory. He reached a career-high of 16th in the world rankings after this win.[9] Soon after this win Kirk broke his hand but returned for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.[10] Kirk was in an automatic place for the 2015 Presidents Cup. He lost his two four fourball matches but won in the singles.
Kirk reached the quarter finals of the 2016 WGC-Dell Match Play before losing to Rory McIlroy. In October 2016 Kirk was a joint runner-up in the Sanderson Farms Championship, an alternate event played opposite the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament. The 2017 season was his worst on the PGA Tour since joining in 2011, finishing 92nd in the FedEx Cup. Despite having only 4 top-10 finishes, 2018 was a better season for Kirk. He only missed the cut in 5 of his 29 starts and finished 66 in the FedEx Cup.
Health
On May 7, 2019, Kirk announced that he was to take an "indefinite leave" from golf to deal with his alcohol and depression issues.[9][11]
Professional wins (7)
PGA Tour wins (4)
| Legend |
| FedEx Cup playoff events (1) |
| Other PGA Tour (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 17, 2011 | Viking Classic | 67-67-64-68=266 | −22 | 1 stroke |  George McNeill, Tom Pernice Jr.
|
| 2 | Nov 10, 2013 | McGladrey Classic | 66-66-68-66=266 | −14 | 1 stroke | Briny Baird,  Tim Clark
|
| 3 | Sep 1, 2014 | Deutsche Bank Championship | 73-66-64-66=269 | −15 | 2 strokes | Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Geoff Ogilvy
|
| 4 | May 24, 2015 | Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial | 68-69-65-66=268 | −12 | 1 stroke | Jason Bohn, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth
|
Korn Ferry Tour wins (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 20, 2010 | Fort Smith Classic | 65-69-66-64=264 | −16 | 1 stroke | Kyle Thompson
|
| 2 | Aug 29, 2010 | Knoxville News Sentinel Open | 68-70-63-67=268 | −20 | 2 strokes | Travis Bertoni
|
| 3 | Jun 20, 2020 | King & Bear Classic | 66-65-64-67=262 | −26 | 1 stroke | Justin Lower
|
Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (0–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2008 | Knoxville Open | Jarrod Lyle
|
Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
| 2 | 2010 | Moonah Classic | Jim Herman
|
Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
Playoff record
PGA Tour of Australasia playoff record (0–1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010 | Moonah Classic | Jim Herman
|
Lost to birdie on first extra hole |
Results in major championships
Results not in chronological order in 2020.
| Tournament | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||
| U.S. Open | T78 | CUT |
| The Open Championship | ||
| PGA Championship |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T20 | T33 | CUT | ||||||
| U.S. Open | T28 | 75 | CUT | ||||||
| The Open Championship | T19 | CUT | |||||||
| PGA Championship | T34 | T57 | CUT | CUT | CUT | T31 |
| Tournament | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | ||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T5 | ||
| U.S. Open | ||||
| The Open Championship | NT | CUT | T42 |
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 11 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2011 PGA – 2014 Open)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (once)
Results in The Players Championship
| Tournament | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | CUT | T51 | T55 | T13 | T13 | WD | T12 | T46 | T56 | C | T48 | CUT |
CUT = missed the halfway cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships
Results not in chronological before 2015.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | T40 | T56 | |
| Match Play | R64 | T17 | QF |
| Invitational | T41 | T21 | |
| Champions | T14 | T76 |
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
- Eisenhower Trophy: 2006
- Palmer Cup: 2006, 2007 (winners)
- Walker Cup: 2007 (winners)
Professional
- Presidents Cup: 2015 (winners)
See also
References
- ^ "Week 22 2015 Ending 31 May 2015" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ "Kirk turning pro after playing on Walker Cup team". ESPN. September 17, 2019.
- ^ "Lyle Prevails in Playoff at Knoxville Open". Golf Channel. June 22, 2008.
- ^ "Herman wins Moonah Classic". Sydney Morning Herald. February 7, 2010.
- ^ "Kirk wins Nationwide tournament". ESPN. Associated Press. June 20, 2010.
- ^ Chemycz, Joe (August 29, 2010). "Chris Kirk wins Knoxville News Sentinel Open". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
- ^ "No. 2 Kirk withdraws from Nationwide Championship". PGA Tour. October 28, 2010.
- ^ Corrigan, James (September 8, 2014). "Ryder Cup 2014: Tom Watson under pressure after leaving out in-form Billy Horschel and Chris Kirk for Gleneagles". The Telegraph.
- ^ a b "Chris Kirk: American golfer to take 'indefinite leave' from the sport". BBC Sport. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
- ^ Hoggard, Rex (August 26, 2015). "Kirk returns from hand injury after six weeks off". Golf Channel.
- ^ VanHaaren, Tom (July 3, 2020). "What Chris Kirk did off the golf course means way more to him than what he is doing on it". ESPN.
External links
- Chris Kirk at the PGA Tour official site
- Chris Kirk at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
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Won: 15.5 – 14.5 | ||