Kirk Triplett

When he went to college, his goal was to be an engineer, and he never considered being a professional golfer. He earned his degree in civil engineering but decided to try competitive golf for a while. It was a tough haul after he turned professional in 1985 since he didn't make it through Q-School and was forced to play on the Australasian, Asian, and Canadian Tours before getting his PGA Tour card in 1989. Between 1990 and 2004, he never dropped out of the top-125 and in 10 of those years, never finished higher than 65th. Problems arose in 2005 when an elbow injury required surgery on damaged tendons. This led to other injuries that hampered him in 2009. The injuries kept him from playing, and he hasn't finished in the top 125 of the money list since 2007.
The best season was in 2000 when he finished 11th on the money list with just over $2 million in earnings. He got his first of three wins at the Nissan Open in Los Angeles. He also was a member of the 2000 Presidents Cup Team.
He played on the PGA Tour between 1990 and 2011 with 501 starts, making the cut 330 times and finishing in the top 10 67 times. Won three times, was runner-up eight times, and finished 3rd eight times, ultimately earning $14.1 million.
The highlight of his 2011 season was making history with his first Korn Ferry Tour victory in late August at the News Sentinel Open in Knoxville. At 49 years, 4 months, and 25 days, he became the oldest player to win on that circuit, and his 21-under 267 total was two strokes better than Marco Dawson. The only other top-15 finish in 10 Korn Ferry Tour appearances was a T-12th at the BMW Charity Pro-Am near Greenville, South Carolina. He made eight overall starts on the PGA Tour and finished among the top 25 in back-to-back starts in July. Put together four consecutive sub-par scores and was T-18th at the Viking Classic. The week before the John Deere Classic, he was T-22nd thanks to a final-round 67 at the TPC Deere Run.
In preparing for the PGA Tour Champions, he played in 18 Korn Ferry Tour events in 2010, '11 & '12. He had four top-10 finishes, including a 2011 News Sentinel Open win.
He turned 50 in March 2012, made his first start at the Encompass Insurance Pro-Am, and was in contention on the back nine on Sunday until a pair of double bogeys dropped him into a T-8th finish. He recorded five top 10s in his 18 starts. He got his first PGA Tour Champions victory in his eighth start, coming from four strokes back on the final day to win the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. The victory made him the sixth player to win events on the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, and Champions Tour, becoming the first since Olin Browne joined that group in 2011.
2013 Notes: Teamed up with Craig Stadler for a T-4th finish at the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf in April. The pair was among the leaders all three days before falling two strokes shy Sunday. Three straight rounds in the '60s led to a T-5th finish to start his year in Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship. Later in the year, he successfully defended his Nature Valley First Tee Pebble Beach title. With his second straight win at Pebble Beach, it made him the first player to successfully defend a PGA Tour Champions title since Tom Lehman went back-to-back at the 2011 and 2012 Regions Tradition.
2014 Notes: He earned multiple titles in a season for the first time in his career and had three other top-three finishes. Earnings of more than $1.4 million were the most he's made in a season since 2004 on the PGA Tour. That year, they collected a personal best of $1.5 million. In his second start of the year, he won The ACE Group Classic, making a critical 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole Sunday to edge Bernhard Langer, Duffy Waldorf, and Olin Browne by one shot. In mid-October, he became the fifth of seven multiple winners of the 2014 PGA Tour Champions when he recorded a three-shot victory over Tom Lehman at the SAS Championship. His runner-up finishes came at the Encompass Championship and the Greater Hickory Kia Classic.
2015 Notes: Opened the year with a T-11 finish at the Mitsubishi Electric. They had a T-10th at the Principal Charity Classic, and the next week, he shot a final round 64 at the Constellation Senior Players to finish runner-up six back of winner Bernhard Langer. He ended his year with a T-6th at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, was 23rd on the money list, and 19th in the Schwab rankings.
2016 Notes: Had a T-7th at the Insperity Invitational, then two weeks later was T-3rd at the Regions Tradition, followed by a T-7th at the Senior PGA Championship. Weekend rounds of 66-65 helped him win the inaugural American Family Insurance Championship, his first victory since the 2014 SAS Championship. He started the final round three strokes back of 36-hole leader Jean-Francois Remesy and his 4-under-par on the back nine was the difference as he made birdies on four of his final six holes to win by two shots over Bart Bryant and Mike Goodes. The win was extra special since his son, Sam, was his caddie. He was T-5th at the Boeing Classic, his last top-ten of the year. In 25 starts was 18th on the money list and 21st in the Schwab Rankings.
2017 Notes: Was 3rd in the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. Also, T-6th at the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic and T-7th at the Tucson Conquistadores Classic and Insperity Invitational. His best finish of the year was 2nd at the U.S. Senior Open, 2 shots back of winner Kenny Perry. He played 22 events and was 14th on the money list and 22nd in the Schwab Ranking.
2018 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour Champions events with nine top-ten finishes. Birdied six of his final nine holes in the closing round 66 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, good for a 5th place finish. Triplett teamed up with Paul Broadhurst to win the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf in a playoff over Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman. As a team, Broadhurst/Triplett went bogey-free en route to a 24-under total, and they won after Triplett holed a bunker shot for birdie on the first extra hole. Entering the tournament, Triplett had never been in a playoff on the PGA Tour (501 starts) or PGA Tour Champions (135 starts). He was T-8th at the U.S. Senior Open, went into the final round T-3rd, and was just 2 shots back but shot a final-round 74. At St. Andrews birdied five of the first ten holes and shared the lead on three occasions in the final round of the Senior Open Championship. He played his last 8 holes in 2 over and finished T-3rd, 2 shots back of winner Miguel Angel Jimenez. Was T-2nd at the Shaw Charity Classic, a shot back of winner Scott McCarron. He was T-6th at the Sanford International and T-2nd at the Pure Insurance Championship, a shot back of winner Ken Tanigawa. He had his third consecutive top-ten with a T-7th finish at the SAS Championship. He didn't play in the first Playoff event Dominion Energy Charity, but was T-10th at the Invesco QQQ and T-24th in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship to finish the year 13th in the Charles Schwab Cup.
2019 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour Champions events with eight top-ten finishes. He was 9th on the Schwab rankings. He had a six-week stretch in which he won and was runner-up in three events. First was a T-2nd at the Cologuard Classic, 4 shots back of winner Mark O'Meara. Next week he won the Hoag Classic, making an eagle on the second playoff hole to beat Woody Austin. Shot a final-round 69 at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic to finish T-2nd, 2 shots back of winner Scott McCarron. With partner Paul Broadhurst as defending champions at the Bass Pro Shops, Legends of Golf finished T-2nd, five shots back of winners Scott Hoch and Tom Pernice Jr. Was T-2nd a the Mastercard Japan Championship, 3 shots back of winner Scott McCarron. He finished 5th at the U.S. Senior Open. They shared the 36-hole lead at Sanford International but finished T-7th after a final-round 71. Beat Billy Andrade with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the Pure Insurance Championship. The Charles Schwab Cup Championship finished 34th.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 35 PGA Tour Champions events with six top-ten finishes. He was 30th on the Schwab rankings. Birdied his last three holes Sunday to post a final-round 69 at the SAS Championship and finish T-4th, three shots back of winner Ernie Els. He was T-10th at the TimberTech Championship. He was T-2nd at the 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Classic, three shots back of winner Dicky Pride. Shot a final-round 67 to finish T-8th. He ended his season with a T-6th at the TimberTech Championship and T-7th at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2022 Notes: He played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with five top-ten finishes. He was 28th in the Schwab rankings and 23rd on the money list earning $789,315. He was T-6th at the Cologuard Classic. Co-leader entering the final round of the Principal Charity Classic shot 67 in the final round to finish runner-up to Jerry Kelly, who beat him with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Next week was T-3rd at the American Family Insurance Championship, two shots back of winner Thongchai Jaidee. He was leading going into the final round of the Shaw Charity Classic, shot 69 in the final round to finish T-3rd, a shot back of the Jerry Kelly/John Huston playoff. He finished 32nd in the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2023 Notes: T-10th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic.