Weekly PGA Recap: Kirk Does Work in Hawaii

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

Chris Kirk's biggest wins the past few years have come off the golf course, but he's also having some big ones on the course, too.

Kirk took down an elite field in the PGA Tour's 2024 season-opening Sentry tournament on Sunday at Kapalua, winning an all-time shootout with a 29-under 263 score to edge Sahith Theegala by one stroke and Jordan Spieth by two for his sixth career title.

In capturing the first of eight Signature Events this year, Kirk won not only $3.6 million, but the new increased total of 700 FedEx Cup points for such tournaments (up from 500).

He shot 8-under 65 on Sunday, but there were a bunch of 63s, including one by Theegala, as the 59 golfers in the field collectively shot a final-round scoring average of 66.66 (6.34 under par), the lowest one-round average on Tour on record (since 1983). The third round in the 2003 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (now the Amex) at Indians Wells had been the lowest, at 5.72 under par.

Now in his age-39 season, Kirk's off-course issues have been well-chronicled because he's addressed them publicly head-on. The former top-20 player overcame battles with alcohol and depression to return to the Tour full-time and he won the Honda Classic last February.

Just two months ago, Kirk was the recipient of the PGA Tour's Courage Award, one of the Tour's highest honors. It is not an annual award. Rather, it is issued when a deserving candidate surfaces. It goes to "a person who, through courage and perseverance, has overcome extraordinary adversity, such as personal tragedy or debilitating injury or illness, to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the game of golf."

While Kirk turned his life around over the past few years, this win in an elite 59-man field with 22 of the top-25 players in the world was a stunner. While 2023 was a success, he was not satisfied.

"I played two tournaments in the fall," Kirk told reporters in Hawaii, "but I spent more time in the gym probably from September, October, November, and December than maybe I had in the last -- and I've always worked out some, but that was definitely the hardest I've gone as far as working on my fitness level in years and years, maybe ever. So that was a big thing."

So Kirk worked on his physical side after taking care of his mental and emotional well-being, and now he's won the past two years – the only player who can say that right now! So he's also the first player to qualify for next year's Sentry. And he'll be back in the Masters in April. Kirk is back up to No. 21 in the world, near his personal best of 16th. 

That personal best will be within range this week as Kirk heads over to Honolulu for the Sony Open, a tournament where he finished third last year and was runner-up twice.

So it's certainly within the realm of possibility for Kirk to add to his big wins of the past few years.

I've had a lot of really great weeks at the Sony Open," Kirk said. I haven't quite managed to win that one. This golf course is one that I love. It's so fun to play. It's just so unique, it's so different from everywhere else that we play. Some of the crazy lies that you're hitting off of and you hit one drive that goes 240 and the next one might go 450. It really kind of brings out the creativity in what we're doing and it's just a lot of fun."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Sahith Theegala
Theegala, bidding for his second PGA Tour win not long after his first, had the lead with two holes to go, though Kirk was two holes behind. He had 10-footer for birdie on 18 but missed and wound up losing by a stroke. Theegala won the Fortinet back in September to open the fall season. We very often see a young player struggle to win for the first time but once they do, watch out. That certainly could be Theegala, who's up to No. 20 in the world rankings heading into his appearance at the Sony Open.

Jordan Spieth
It didn't take long for Spieth to get one of the worst breaks he will get all year – a plugged lie in a bunker on 16 just inches from the lip. He was a shot off the lead at the time and wound up with his lone bogey of the day. He missed an eagle try on 18 and finished solo third. This was Spieth's best finish since winning here in 2016, around when he was at the height of his game.

Byeong Hun An
An was a surprise top-50 finisher in the FedEx Cup standings last year, and he delivered another surprise with a solo fourth in this elite field. Putting has always been his big issue, but with a new long putter this week, he ranked 18th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. An will play again at the Sony Open and, if his putting really is improved, he could be in the hunt for his first PGA Tour win sometime this year.

Sungjae Im
Im set a PGA Tour record (since 1983) with 34 birdies in the tournament. Yet he finished only tied for fifth thanks to seven bogeys, one double and no eagles. Im has always played Kapalua well, with two prior top-10s. Interestingly, he will be skipping the Sony.

Scottie Scheffler
This year is starting off for Scheffler quite similar to the way last year ended. He tied for fifth thanks to ranking third in SG: Off-the-Tee, second in Approach and first in green in regulation. Yet he ranked 45th in Putting in a field of 59. How many wins will Scheffler get in 2024? How many wins will his putter cost him?

Jason Day
Social media was abuzz with Day's new apparel deal with Malbon Golf, which targets the younger crowd. His game was youthful with a tie for 10th, a finish that could've been much higher if not for a double on 8 on Sunday. Day started fast last year before tailing off badly after his win at the Byron Nelson. Maybe he got tired? Will the clothes help keep him feeling young deep into the year?

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele played Sunday in the final threesome but "stumbled" to a 5-under 68 while the field was shooting 63s, 64s and 65s, and he fell back to a tie for 10th. It was a surprise since Schauffele is a former Kapalua winner.

Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia played three great rounds – landing him in the final threesome on Sunday – and then one terrible round. He closed with a 2-under 71 to fall back into a tie for 14th. Not known for his putting, he putted great over the first 54 holes as he switched to a longer club but not the final 18. For the week he ranked third in SG: Putting but on Sunday ranked 36th. After he gets over the disappointment, Bhatia will realize this was a great week, one that moved him to a career-best 98th OWGR. He'll also play the Sony this week.

Eric Cole
Fresh off winning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year at age 35, Cole continued to show he belongs with the big boys with a tie for 14th, moving to a career-best 39th in the world. Having made 37 starts last year, it's no surprise that Cole will island-hop to play the Sony this week.

Patrick Rodgers
Rodgers tied for 14th, his best showing outside of an opposite-field event since June. He's up to 86th in the world, not far off his career-best of 75th.

Viktor Hovland
Hovland improved his short game last year maybe more than anyone ever improved one part of their game in the span of one year. But it was not great at Kapalua, nor was his Approach play. He ranked in the 40s in the 59-man field in both metrics, resulting in a meh tie for 22nd. His bladed shot from the sand on 14 on Saturday resulting in a triple bogey made the rounds on social media.

Tony Finau
After falling off badly in the second half of 2023, resulting in being left off the Ryder Cup team, Finau was looking to get off to a better start to 2024 than his tie for 38th. He ranked 41st in the field in SG: Approach, and that's a yellow flag bordering on red. He also was 42nd in Putting.

Ludvig Aberg
We said on last week's RotoWire Rundown that maybe everyone should pump the breaks on Aberg, at least just a little bit. The emerging superstar tied for 47th – and he needed a 10-under 63 on Sunday to get there. Aberg will play this week at the Sony.

Rickie Fowler
It was Fowler's first appearance at the Sentry in four years and it did not go well. He shot only one round in the 60s and finished 56th of 59 golfers. He ranked 51st in the field in SG: Putting.