


Chris Kirk, who has publicly battled alcoholism, won his first PGA Tour tournament since 2015 on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Kirk bested Eric Cole in a playoff to win the Honda Classic with a final score of 14-under par over the weekend, and attributed his professional triumph and personal stability to getting sober.
“Yeah, I owe everything that I have in my entire life to my sobriety,” he said, as covered by Golf.com. “I wouldn’t be doing this for a living anymore. I probably wouldn’t have the family that I have currently anymore. I came really close to losing everything that I cared about.
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“For that to have happened and worked out for me, obviously there were some decisions that I made, but mostly the grace of God and a lot of other people that really helped me along the way. But yeah, it’s something that’s constantly on my mind, so it’s pretty easy for me to see that winning the Honda Classic is kind of a bonus when literally every good thing I have in my life I owe to that.”
In May 2019, Kirk spoke about what pushed him to get clean and take an indefinite leave from the PGA Tour. He return to competition in the latter months of 2019.
“I thought I could control it, but after multiple relapses I have come to realize that I can’t fix this on my own,” he said at the time.
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He timed the announcement on his 34th birthday.
“I don’t know when I will be back, but for now I need my full focus on being the man my family deserves,” Kirk said in 2019. “Thank you for your support.”
In 2021, he opened up about his struggles to The Post’s Mark Cannizzaro.
“There was a time when I’d be on the 15th hole at a tournament and I couldn’t wait to finish so I could go get a drink,’’ the golfer said. “It became medication for anxiety, fear, some occasional depression and feeling pretty worthless. I couldn’t live a functional life without [alcohol]. I couldn’t wait to get done playing golf so I could get back on it. It was a bad cycle.’’
After his victory on Sunday, which was his fourth PGA Tour win overall and first since the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in 2015, Kirk expressed his gratitude for his present station in life.
“Yeah, definitely still trying to wrap my head around it, for sure, but I’m just so thankful to be able to do what I do for a living,” he said. “I’m very thankful to have the life that I have, and to have the opportunity to compete on a stage like this, in a tournament like this, and to be able to pull it off is a huge bonus for me.”