Chris Kirk took a seven-month leave from the PGA Tour to tackle alcoholism and mental health issues in 2019; Kirk is back inside the world's top 25 after winning The Sentry in Hawaii, his sixth PGA Tour title
Monday 8 January 2024 11:36, UK
Chris Kirk insists that constant reminders about his battles with alcoholism and mental health issues take nothing away from his resurgence back to PGA Tour success.
Kirk made a winning start to the 2024 campaign with victory at The Sentry, the first of the PGA Tour's signature events, where he birdied two of his four last holes to claim a one-shot win over Sahith Theegala in Hawaii.
The 38-year-old's victory is his sixth PGA Tour title and second as many seasons, having previously had to step away from the sport for nearly seven months in 2019 to address his off-course struggles.
"I hope it [the recovery journey] stays with me forever," Kirk told reporters after his victory. "It's a huge part of my life still now. Definitely the best thing that I've ever done in my life is to get sober.
"I don't feel like it's taking away from anything that I'm accomplishing. It's 100 per cent the reason why I'm able to do what I do.
"I've said that a lot, but there would be - my PGA Tour career would have been over a while ago, had I not gotten sober. So, yeah, I'm fine with that staying with me for until the day I die."
Kirk reached as high as world No 16 after winning the Colonial Tournament in 2015, his fourth PGA Tour victory, then struggled for form in the following years before announcing his "indefinite leave" from the sport in May 2019 to start "a new and better chapter" in his life.
He dropped out of the world's top 500 until a win on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 at the King & Bear Classic started his rise back up the rankings, with a runner-up finish at the Sony Open the following January - the last start on his major medical extension - then seeing him regain his PGA Tour card.
The American qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs that season and the following year, before ending his eight-year winless run on the PGA Tour by beating Eric Cole in a play-off at the 2023 Honda Classic.
Kirk's win puts him as the early leader in the FedExCup standings and earns him $3.6m (£2.8m), plus guarantees an invite to The Masters and will see him feature in all of the majors again this year.
"I had it [enjoyment for golf] for a long time and then lost it," Kirk explained. "I lost the joy of most things in life for a while there, but yeah, it's certainly back.
"I think I just love how hard this is. Like, it's so hard to be great at this and I love the process that it takes. I love the work that it takes to try to be the best version of myself.
"I definitely have fallen back in love with that process and sometimes you get rewarded for it, like today [Sunday] and sometimes you don't. That's just part of the deal. I think to be successful and to really enjoy your life as a PGA Tour player you've got to love the work."
Kirk was recognised last year with the PGA Tour Courage Award, an accolade given to a person who has overcome extraordinary adversity to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the game of golf, with the new world No 25 proud of how he has tackled his illness.
"It certainly has been helpful and beneficial to me to be open and public about it," Kirk added. "I live a decent amount of my life sort of in the public view, somewhat anyways,
"The biggest thing for me was waking up every morning and looking at myself in the mirror and knowing that I've got nothing to hide, and I can be proud of who I am. So, I didn't feel like that was really going to be quite as possible if I was not open about it.
"It was more of just the freedom of not lying to myself and lying to other people, that's what it was. There is some sense of accountability there, for sure, but, yeah, it's definitely more about just feeling free for the first time in a long time."
Watch the Sony Open in Hawaii throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live early coverage begins on Thursday from 5pm on Sky Sports Golf, ahead of full coverage from midnight. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more on NOW.
