Chris Kirk birdied the 15th and 17th holes to polish off an 8-under 65 and kick off the PGA Tour season with a win at The Sentry on Sunday in Maui, Hawaii.
Kirk was the 54-hole leader at the Plantation Course at Kapalua and expanded his advantage on Sunday with six birdies in his first 11 holes. After Sahith Theegala made a charge on the back nine, Kirk dialed in his second shot at the par-4 17th to 2.5 feet.
The ensuing birdie let him finish at 29-under, one stroke ahead of Theegala. Kirk made just one bogey the entire week in order to claim €3.3million of the €18.2millionpurse at the first signature event of 2024.
Ireland's Seamus Power finished the tournament with his best round of the week for a share of 50th place.
Having come into the day with three consecutive rounds of 71, Power started on the 10th hole and found with back to back birdies before an eagle on the 15th helped him to make the turn at -6 for the day.
A triple bogey on the 1st threatened to undo his good work but he found another eagle on the fifth to help undo that and eventually signed for a 67.
No. 52 in the world ranking this week, Kirk won the Honda Classic in February 2023 to end an eight-year drought between PGA Tour victories. He took a leave of absence in 2019 to address mental health and addiction issues. Now he has his second win in 11 months.
"It's 100% the reason why I'm able to do what I do," Kirk said. "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."
Theegala rang up 10 birdies and eight pars for a 63 on Sunday but had to settle for second.
"Last year I was hurt during the off season, didn't play any golf," Theegala said. "This year I got a lot of work in, in the gym, a lot of work in with my coach and felt so ready for this event. I was so pumped for this event, and obviously with the signature events and all that big deal, I knew it was important to get off to a fast start. Yeah, finishing second here is going to be a really nice boost for the rest of the West Coast swing."
Jordan Spieth (65 Sunday) got in the mix before finishing in third at 27 under. He lamented misreading a 14-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th, though even that wouldn't have been enough to catch Kirk.
"If you told me (I'd shoot) 8 under at the beginning of the day, I would have thought Chris probably betters 6 under, but playing with the lead in the last group, maybe 8 was in a playoff, was kind of where my head was at," Spieth said. "There was just some phenomenal golf played everywhere."
Byeong Hun An of South Korea went 5 under for his last six holes - one eagle, one bogey and four birdies - to shoot a 66 and place fourth at 26 under.
