Chris Kirk wins final Honda Classic in one-hole playoff over Eric Cole
PALM BEACH GARDENS – For the first time in 2,835 days, Chris Kirk got to lift a trophy.
It took an extra hole, but Kirk wasn’t complaining after ending an almost eight-year winless drought Sunday when he beat Eric Cole in a playoff to win the Honda Classic at PGA National Resort.
Kirk birdied the par-5 18th hole on The Champion course to win for the first time in 79 starts since 2015 at Colonial. It was his fifth PGA Tour win, worth $1.512 million.
“I was obviously very, very nervous today, having not won in so long won in so long,” said Kirk, who has overcome alcoholism to likely return to No. 31 in the world rankings. “I’m so grateful for my sobriety, my family and for everyone who has supported me throughout the past three or four years.”
Kirk’s victory dashed what would have been an incredible story had Cole held on for the win. The 34-year-old rookie from Delray Beach had never had a top-10 finish in his 17 previous PGA Tour starts, much less a win.
With mom Laura Baugh cheering him on from the gallery, Cole came within a missed up-and-down on the 72nd hole of winning at golf’s highest level. He still earned $915,600 for his runner-up finish, 10 times more than he pocketed while winning more than 50 times on the South Florida-based Minor League Golf Tour.
It’s no surprise Cole became a professional golfer, considering his parents, Baugh and Bobby Cole, played a combined 650 tournaments on the PGA and LPGA Tours.
Baugh won the 1971 U.S. Women’s Amateur and was the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year, parlaying her good looks into lucrative endorsements even though she never won an LPGA Tour event. Cole, a South African, won once on the PGA Tour (1977 Buick Open) and came close twice in the British Open.
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"If you would have given me a chance to win the tournament in a playoff on Wednesday night, I think I would have taken that, obviously,” Cole said. “Its overall a positive. There's a lot that I can learn from it. I was proud of the way I played, and I can't wait to get back in that position."
The final chapter of the Honda Classic story – American Honda is ending its Tour-long 42 years of sponsorship – featured a back-and-forth duel between Kirk and Cole.
Kirk started the day with a two-shot lead, but Cole made three consecutive birdies on the front nine, capped by draining a 70-foot birdie putt to tie Kirk for the lead.
On 10 of the 19 holes they played together Sunday, the final twosome made different scores on their holes.
There was a two-stroke lead swing at the par-4 13th hole when Cole made a 10-foot birdie putt and Kirk bogeyed. It was the first time Cole had led a PGA Tour event.
The lead didn’t last long, however. Cole bogeyed the par-3 15th, when he left a shot in a greenside bunker, to leave them tied. Kirk regained the lead at No. 16 with a 19-foot birdie putt.
“That putt on 16 was huge,” Kirk said.
It came down to the par-5 18th hole. With a one-shot lead, Kirk was looking to clinch the win when he went for the green in two from 252 yards. But his ball struck the wall just right of the green and ricocheted within a couple feet of the Honda vehicle floating in the water at the closing hole.
“I was in a great position on 18,” Kirk said, “but I just made a bad swing at the wrong time. I was trying to be aggressive, but in hindsight would have been better to hit it to the left somewhere.”
It was Cole’s turn to move into the driver’s seat, but his second shot went left of the green. Kirk dropped 137 yards away and hit his approach to 16 feet.
Cole needed to get up-and-down with his chip to apply the pressure to Kirk, but his bell frittered over the green. Cole left his birdie putt short, giving Kirk a chance to win if he drained his putt.
He missed and they headed back to the 18th tee to decide the tournament. There was more back and forth.
Kirk has early issues when his drive stopped behind a tree, forcing him to lay up. Cole went for the green in two, but it bounced into the back bunker.
Kirk hit a wedge to tap-in distance, and Cole had a chance to keep the playoff going, his birdie putt lipped out.
“I hit a really good putt and just kind of caught that top edge,” Cole said. “But I hit a good putt, and I was proud of that.”
Kirk made the short putt to finally end the melodrama.
"What an unbelievable feeling,” Kirk said. “I obviously knew that wedge shot was good when I hit it.”
Kirk and Cole finished at 17-under 263 for the lowest winning score since the Honda Classic moved to The Champion course at PGA National in 2007. Camillo Villegas had the lowest winning score at 13-under in 2010. The average winning score was 8.9 under par.
Fittingly, the final Honda Classic came down to several lead changes, a late crash and a lot of drama.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Honda Classic: Chris Kirk outduels Eric Cole in playoff
