Winner: Chris Kirk
Around the wider world of golf: Lilia Vu got her first LPGA win at the Honda LPGA Thailand; like Chris Kirk, Marcel Siem got his first win in 8 years at the Hero Indian Open on the DP World Tour; Dylan Mostert won the Nelson Mandela Bay Championship on the Sunshine Tour; Brett Coletta won the TPS Hunter Valley on the Australasian Tour; and Bohyun Park won the women's individual division of the NCAA's Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.
Finally! My Twofer Tuesday picks had mixed results this time but I can live with that. I had Sungjae Im (T42) and Chris Kirk (1). Im simply couldn't get it going, shooting only -2 for the week, but Kirk...
- Top10s: 5 for 16 (4 Top5s 1 Top10)
- Winners: 2 for 8 events
- Top20s: 6 for 16
It had been 8 years since Chris Kirk had last won a PGA Tour event, nearly 4 years since he left the Tour to try and win his battle with alcoholism. He had won four times on Tour before then but was on the verge of losing everything. It's not unusual for players to never make it back to the winner's circle after such a struggle.
But Kirk refused to be a casualty. And on Sunday he won a playoff at the Honda Classic for his fifth PGA Tour win, his largest winner's check ever, and perhaps the best feeling he's had yet in his 37 years of life.
How do you even begin to sum up all that has gone into a comeback like this? I simply don't know, and in his interview after the win Kirk was blunt about it — he didn't know how to sum it up either, beyond being grateful for the love of his family, the support of his team and his successful return to sobriety.
But I can give him a shiny new Limerick Summary to celebrate a journey that shows no sign of being finished. Congratulations, Chris!
As Honda’s long sponsorship ends,
Chris Kirk got it done and begins
A new resumé.
Though once gone astray,
Self-control may bring many more wins.
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