Chris Kirk

Kirk was born in Atlanta but subsequently moved to Woodstock, Georgia. He played college golf at the University of Georgia. He was a member of the school's 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship team, along with Kevin Kisner, Richard Scott, and Brendon Todd. The 2007 Ben Hogan Award winner, given annually to the nation's top college golfer, won two SEC team titles. Set a school record with seven individual victories, four of which came during his senior season. He earned first-team All-American honors in his junior and senior years. He earned second-team All-American honors as a sophomore. Three-time, first-team All-SEC selection. Set the school record with a 70.90 scoring average during his junior season and tied the school record with 10 top-10 finishes. For his career, he was finished with 24 top-10 finishes, only three short of Chip Beck's school record. His 71.89 career stroke average was just shy of the school record 71.79, held by Erik Compton. He capped his amateur career by representing the U.S. at the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down G.C. in Northern Ireland. He played in the 2015 Presidents Cup.
He played his rookie season on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2008, finishing 77th on the money list. He made 10 cuts in 19 starts, including three top-25 finishes. Shot 66, making him one of the first-round leaders, with Arjun Atwal and Jarrod Lyle, at the Knoxville Open. He birdied the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Lyle, who defeated him with a birdie on the first playoff hole. The runner-up finish with a $54,000 check moved him to 42nd on the money list.
2008 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 19; In Money - 10; Top-10 Finishes - 1; Stroke Average - 71.70 (rank 102nd); Money - $88,441 (rank 77th); Best Finish - 2nd, Knoxville Open.
2009 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 13; In Money - 4; Top-10 Finishes - 0; Stroke Average - 71.20 (rank 96th); Money - $13,606 (rank 178th); Best Finish - T-25th, Nationwide Tour Players.
2010 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 21; In Money - 17; Top-10 Finishes - 7; Stroke Average - 69.05 (rank 1st); Money - $411,206 (rank 2nd); Best Finish: 1st, Fort Smith Classic, Knoxville News Sentinel Open. The season ended when he injured his left wrist, forcing him to miss the final two events and derailing his chance of winning the money title. Still, his high finish on the money list got him a PGA Tour card for 2011.
2011 Notes: Enjoyed a banner year on the PGA Tour, claiming four top-10 finishes, highlighted by his first career win at the Viking Classic. He also had a runner-up finish at the Shell Houston Open, finished 42nd in the FedExCup race, and was 45th on the money list with earnings of $1,877,627.
2012 Notes: Compiled four top-10 finishes. His first came at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Next was a T-5th finish at Crown Plaza Colonial, followed by a T-10th when he defended his Viking Classic title. The following week, he had his best finish of the year, a T-4th at the RBC Canadian Open. He was ranked 49th in the FedExCup race and 78th on the money list for the year.
2013 Notes: Got off to a quick start, finishing T-5th at the Sony Open and runner-up at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He added his third top-10 of the season, as he played well at the Sanderson Farms Championship (T-9th), the third time in a row he has finished in the top-10 at that event. Ended the year 34th on the FedExCup list and 47th on the money list.
2014 Notes: In the new wraparound schedule, won the McGladrey Classic by one shot over Tim Clark and Briny Baird. Led going into the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii and shot a solid 66, but was defeated by Jimmy Walker, who shot 63. Kirk finished 2nd. He was T-4th at The Memorial, where he shot 10 under par. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he finished T-53rd at The Barclays. The next week, he entered the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship, trailing fellow Georgia Bulldog Russell Henley by two shots. He closed with a 5-under-par 66 for a two-shot win over Henley, Geoff Ogilvy, and Billy Horschel for his third-career PGA Tour victory and second of the season. With the win, Kirk moved from No. 17 into the top spot in the FedExCup rankings heading into the BMW Championship, where he finished T-36th to maintain his first-place spot. He would have won the FedExCup with a victory at East Lake. Shot rounds of 66-68-71-68 but finished T-4th, four strokes behind champion Horschel, who won the FedExCup playoffs. Kirk was runner-up behind Horschel in the FedExCup race and 6th in the money race.
2015 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts and in the top ten 3 times. In defense of his McGladrey Classic title, he finished T-4th, two shots out of the playoff won by Robert Streb. The second top-10 finish was a T-8th at the Valero Texas Open. He won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial by one shot over Jordan Spieth, Jason Bohn, and Brandt Snedeker. He ended the year 44th in the FedExCup standings and 35th on the money list. He went 1-2-0 in his three Presidents Cup matches.
2016 Notes: Played in 28 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts and finishing in the top-ten 3 times. He had his first top-10, losing in the quarterfinals (T-5th) to Rory McIlroy 4 & 3. He was T-5th at the Zurich Classic at New Orleans and was T-10th at the BMW Championship. He finished 54th in the FedExCup race and was 56th on the money list.
2017 Notes: Made the cut in 17 of 28 starts during the 2016-17 season. He had a great fall run, starting his year with a T-8th finish at the Safeway Open, then T-2nd at the Sanderson Farms Championship, finishing 4 back of winner Cody Gribble. After a T-61st at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, he was T-7th at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. After that, his best finish for the rest of the year was a T-12th at the Players Championship. He finished 92nd in the final FedExCup ranking.
2018 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events, making 24 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 66th on the FedExCup points list. Was T-4th at the RSM Classic, T-10th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, T-8th at the Valero Texas Open, and T-6th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. In the FedExCup playoffs, T-78th at Northern Trust, T-35th at the Dell Technologies Championship, and T-41st at the BMW Championship.
2019 Notes: Played in 17 PGA Tour events, making six cuts with one top-25 finish. Was 199th on the FedExCup points list. Best finish T-15th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Kirk missed the cut in his last four events after the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. On April 29th, Kirk decided that he was going to quit drinking. This problem had been around for years; he had tried twice before to stop, but after six to eight weeks, he was back to drinking. But this time was different. He had found a support group and decided to take a leave of absence from the PGA Tour. He spent the summer with his family at his home in Athens, Georgia. He didn't touch a golf club for three and a half months. So his season was finished.
2020 Notes: He started ramping up his game in September, looking to return for the Mayakoba Golf Classic. On his return, he played well, finishing T-33rd. But everything wasn't that good. His game wasn't as sharp as he would have liked, and he missed the next five cuts. He took it slowly, going from event to event in a mobile home with his family. He only played in 11 events, and in the five cuts he made, his best finish was T-21st at the Rocket Mortgage. After the Charles Schwab Challenge, he couldn't get into the Heritage and played in the Korn Ferry Tour, The King & Beach Classic. He won it by a shot over Justin Lower, making a birdie on his final hole.
2021 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 52nd in the final FedExCup standings. Things got back to normal, and his game came around. He was T-2nd at the Sony Open in Hawaii, a shot back of winner Kevin Na. Not only was it his best finish on the PGA Tour since his T-2nd at the 2016 Sanderson Farms, but he earned enough FedExCup points to remain in the major medical extension for the rest of the season. He was T-8th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T-6th at the Valero Texas Open, and T-7th at the RBC Heritage. He was T-12th at the Rocket Morgage Classic.
2022 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 68th in the final FedExCup standings. Was T-7th at the Honda Classic, he shot a final-round 73 and was seven shots back of winner Sepp Straka who shot 66 in the final round. He shot 72 in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to finish T-5th, two shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler. Shot a final round 68 at the PGA Championship to finish T-5th, two shots back of the Justin Thomas/Will Zalatoris playoff. It was Kirk's first top-ten finish in a major. He was T-7th at the RBC Canadian Open. In the FedEx Cup playoffs missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and T-61st at the BMW Championship.
2023 Notes: Played in 29 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was 32nd in the final FedExCup standings. Held at least a share of the lead after each of the first two rounds of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Shot 68-68 over the weekend to finish 3rd, three shots back of winner Si Woo Kim. It was Kirk's fourth top-five finish in 13 Sony Hawaii starts. The following week was T-3rd at The American Express, two shots back of winner Jon Rahm. Kirk shot a front-nine 29 in the final round, his third career sub-30 nine-hole score. He won The Honda Classic in a playoff over Eric Cole, earning his fifth career PGA Tour title and first since the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge. He made a birdie 4 on the first extra hole, No. 18, to clinch the victory. He snapped a winless drought of 7 years, 9 months, 2 days, and a streak of 178 starts without a victory. The first player since Lucas Glover won the 2021 John Deere Classic to go seven years or more between victories on the PGA Tour. At 14-under, he became the first winner of The Honda Classic since the event moved to PGA National in 2007 to finish with a 72-hole total of 14-under or better. Finished T-10th at the Valero Texas Open. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-16th at the FedEx St. Jude and T-29th at the BMW Championship.
2024 Notes: Won The Sentry by one shot over Sahith Theegala, earning his sixth career PGA Tour title in his 331st start at the age of 30 years, 7 months, 30 days. The victory came in his fifth start at The Sentry and his first since 2016. Got his second top ten of the year at the RBC Heritage, finishing T-10th.