MEMPHIS — It kind of figures that Chris Kirk, who made his ninth career hole-in-one Thursday at TPC Southwind, would be in contention in the opening event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. If anyone has made the most of his time in the signature/elevated/designated tournament universe, it’s the Georgia native who barely raises his pulse when rising to the occasion.
Kirk opened the FedEx St. Jude Championship with a six-under 64, good for an early one-stroke clubhouse lead over playing partner Taylor Pendrith of Canada and Matthieu Pavon of France. Attempting to play the kind of boring golf at which he excels to the point of near somnambulance, Kirk ruined his game plan by holing a 6-iron from 201 yards at the par-3 14th hole. The shot, which he admitted pushing to the right just a bit, landed 10 feet short-right of the hole, took a few bounces and rolled in.
“I was looking a little further left than that with water on the right, but as soon as I hit it, I hit it just how I wanted to contact-wise, looked up, saw it started a touch right but was drawing right back to it,” said Kirk, who was bogey-free and seven under after fishing his ball out of the cup. “Yeah, nice bonus.”
But also a problem. Mr. Low Pulse was a bit more fired up, even if he’d had several aces before—only some of which he remembers because, well, after a while, apparently it ceases to be an occasion. But this time it registered; it was his fourth in tour competition.
“Yeah, it can be a little bit difficult sometimes,” Kirk, 39, said with a grin. “I got off script a little bit. After my little even-keeled boring golf that I was just cruising along and then you make a hole-in-one on a hole like that especially, it just kind of can be a little bit of a challenge to get back down to the ground and get back into your process. I did the best I could, and overall, really solid day.”
He rued his finish, however, which included a poor chip that left him relegated to a par on the par-5 16th and a bogey at 18 after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.
Ranked 39th in the world, Kirk arrived in the Home of the Blues ranked 28th in the FedEx Cup standings and well rested, having taken five of the last six weeks off to prepare for the playoffs, appearing only in the Open Championship at Troon. “I might be the freshest guy out here this week,” he said with relish.
He didn’t come in on his best form. Since a T-10 at the RBC Heritage, the week after he finished T-10 in the Masters, Kirk hadn’t placed higher than T-26 at the U.S. Open. But the RBC Heritage and Masters award a greater number of FedEx Cup points. Throw in his victory at the season-opening event, the Sentry, where he won 700 points, and Kirk had himself 75 percent of the 1,318 points he collected this season.
His only other top-25 finish of the year came at the Sony Open in Hawaii, where he ended up T-18. Criticize the signature event series if you want, but as one veteran golf writer pointed out, most professionals tend to make the lion’s share of their earnings in just a few events. Kirk made hay where he needed to, and he doesn’t have to apologize.
“Yeah, I played well at the right time, had a pretty good year in majors,” he agreed. “But after you play the majors and signature events, you barely have time to play in any of the other events. So you better play well in those tournaments. It’s why I took some time off. I was ready when I got out here.”
Good planning. Good timing. A six-time winner on the PGA Tour, Kirk is in good shape in another big tournament.