PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Chris Kirk waited nearly eight years to win a PGA Tour event again. Waiting one more hole on Sunday was no problem.
Kirk stuck his approach to the par-5 18th to tap-in range, and his birdie on the first hole of a playoff lifted him past Eric Cole for a victory at the Honda Classic.
Cole had a chance, playing his third shot from the sand to just outside of 10 feet for a birdie that would have extended the playoff. But it lipped out, and Kirk nudged his ball in for his fifth PGA Tour win — the 37-year-old former University of Georgia standout’s first since prevailing in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in May 2015.
“I was obviously very, very nervous today having not won in so long,” Kirk said. “Coming down the stretch, I felt good.”
And now he’ll be the last winner of the Honda Classic. The car company is ending its title sponsorship of the event at PGA National Golf Club after 42 years, with a new sponsor set to be in place — the PGA Tour hopes, anyway — in the coming weeks.