Chris Kirk held off Sahith Theegala and Jordan Spieth en route to winning The Sentry at Kapalua, which could be the precursor to an ‘epic’ year on the PGA Tour. #GolfChannel #GolfCentral #ChrisKirk
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Chris Kirk’s win at The Sentry could set him up for an ‘epic’ 2024 | Golf Central | Golf Channel
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Golf Central on YouTube is brought to you by the new Chrome tour golf ball from Callaway it’s the Sentry and the season opener on the PGA tour for 2024 Maui looks nice doesn’t it especially you got wallup with that snowstorm we did in the Northeast I haven’t been there in a few
Years that sight right there makes me want to get on a plane you’re going back soon I think Rich learner with brandle shamble Chris Kirk started with a one shot lead and mean it was a drag race on top of the Pacific the winds laid down players blew through the plantation
Course look Chris Kirk didn’t miss a single putt on the front nine from 20 ft in in turned in 31 sah theala started the day three back he also turned in 31 picking up no ground so it’s like what do I got to do keep hitting it close
Young man keep making putts young man uh and he seemed to be handling that just fine and to back of Kirk at that point Jordan spe was in the picture here part 311 this for B had the best week on the greens of anybody in the field uh this
From about 30 ft made an inordinate number of putts 15 ft to 30 ft now this just another great golf swing he would say after the round he was just swinging so well I didn’t see him hit a single shot that didn’t come out right where he
Was aimed High soft draw After High soft draw now at the 14th hole so I had G yeah just a breath of wind down here down wind here normally this hole plays right into a stiff breeze so everybody could get there got to think saw taken quite a bit off that
Driver and bit of a good break there I mean it could have just funneled off the back of the green but it caught the slope fed back gave him a decent look at Eagle wouldn’t able to make it still 26 under par he birdied the 15th and tied
Kirk for the lead here’s Jordan 26 under par 515 yeah bad break it his Drive settled into a divot um so he couldn’t put the spin on it so off the back of the green but you know when Jordan is chipping it’s a thing of beauty rarely because he had
Much work left afterwards all right that’s a birdie 27 under he’s tied for the lead the gala at the 16 second shot yeah you know downwind here that PO location that back tier you know fish hitting little low bump and run up there just beautiful this is where it came
Undone for Jordan I mean partly his fault from missing it the right bunker but really it’s just one of the worst breaks I think I’ve ever seen you know you’re hitting driver it lands in a bunker even if it hits in the edge of the bunker it’s not meant to plug you
Know there’s not meant to be that much sand underneath the lip needs to be a little punishment in the all-time feel good golf course come on that was just a horrible break horrible don’t hit it there uh see good break here by Kevin kissner he didn’t end up in those divots
Over there on the right side of the Fairway first cut so as Jordan was plugged under the bunker at the 16th Kevin hits this beautiful shot or excuse me Chris Kirk hits this beautiful shot like they’re 28 under at that point tied with saw hith he really needs this for
Birdie with Kirk behind him well get a poor shot into the green you know you did poor shot ride of 17 had to get it up and down for far a poor shot right of this screen so made it difficult or should I say more difficult for him to
Make birdie but took eagle out of play so it’s in Chris Kirk’s hands he’s right here tied for the lead a 28 underpar shot of the week one of the best shots maybe the best shot of his career what a moment you know late Sunday right pin
For a hooker it’s not a great match but uh use that slope just perfectly uh birdie game over no way to mess up the e hole unless you go left and he wasn’t flirting with that not for a second so part 18 at the Difference Maker brandle said that birdie at the
17th the shot he’ll remember for a long time career win number six in his return to Maui for the first time since 2016 he’s now won in consecutive seasons and he does it with 8 under 65 pagala when he disappointed when you shoot 10 under when you leave one out
There on that far five 18th but still uh he continues to announce himself as a young factor in the game speak putted beautifully and he finishes solo third Scotty Sheffer on the other hand struggles uh particularly on the weekend he came into the weekend with the lead
He finishes in a tie for fifth uh let let’s start with with Scotty sheffler real quickly world number one that has been a theme uh in you know the last year in change what did you see with the putting well uh this particular day Sunday uh he missed five putts inside of
10 feet that was more than anybody else in the field he was 59th out of 59 players inside of 10 feet he only lost by four shots he missed those five putts inside of 10 feet he missed an inordinate number of putts as well on Saturday uh when you start looking at 3
To 5 feet four to eight feet he was almost dead last uh last year on the PGA tour he lost a half a shot uh a day on average to the field in putting that is a lot of lost shots he was worse than that this week he lost uh roughly S10 of
A shot a day to the field uh T de green he was very much Scotty Sheffer 2023 third and strokes gain off of the T only col Mor cow was better than him and strokes gain approach so this was almost an exact duplicate uh in small detail of
2023 now to the champion how does your view of Chris Kirk change if at all with this win today uh you know look I I at 38 years old uh now with six wins yeah with four uh out of seven 54 hole lead conversions yes um you know you think this is going
To set him up for an epic 20124 um you know can’t wait to see him play uh as the year goes on you know you start to look at the bigger events the players and the major championships and you wonder what he can do with that uh
You know to be this sharp this early not miss a shot uh around the greens he was the best in the field uh led the field and strokes gain off around the greens led the field uh scrambling uh really a compelling figure in the game of golf
And look forward to 2024 he headlines the field next week at the Sony Open where by the way last year you had the 18 and the 36 whole league right chance to go back to back that’s a field that will include another heartwarming story Gary Woodland returning after brain
Surgery ludvig oar is in the field Matt Fitzpatrick Brian material hat and hii Mama who’s won at Wii in the past saw tagala Kevin kizner comes out of the broadcast Booth where he did very well and will play uh this coming week uh at the Sony Open back to the scoring here
Uh scoring average today Brandon was 66.7 it’s a part of 73 I mean that is better than six shots under par blew away the previous single day Plantation uh scoring record which was set on on Friday that was 67.4 s uh what do you think they should
Do with this golf course well look in defense of the golf course it was designed in 1991 uh for Resort play uh on the side of a hill in a part of Hawaii that is susceptible to point uh severe winds that’s why the fairways are
So wide that’s why the greens are so big uh it wasn’t designed to test the best players in the world it is is it ended up being a fabulous place for the best players in the world and go play because they have a great time it’s a great way
To start the year you see a softer side of them uh it’s no you know stringent test um but having said all that uh at this point I think you can revisit the par of the golf course I don’t know why they continue to stick with par 73
Clearly the fifth hole is not a par five clearly the 15th hole is not a par five uh and under the conditions that they typically play with the winds down on 18 but they weren’t down uh 18 doesn’t play like a par five so they could make this
A par 70 uh and the scores wouldn’t look so uh ridiculous lastly as uh we say goodbye to Maui for for this week uh let’s not forget about the the magical place they need our help and let this week their Spirit match the beauty brandal powerful no doubt I think that
Was one of the most uh wonderful messages of this week yeah absolutely Chris Kirk has won the season opener at the Sentry
