Chris Kirk had a solid round going on Thursday when he arrived at the par-3 14th, the most challenging hole on the course. He had carded five birdies already and sat at the top of the leaderboard early at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at 5-under-par.
But his round would quickly get better.
Kirk pulled out a 6-iron and knocked in his tee shot for an ace, the ninth hole-in-one he has ever had, so he says. It also marked his fourth career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.
With the pin on the right side of the green, roughly six paces from the water, Kirk started his right-to-left ball flight over the penalty area on this tricky 205-yard par-3. His ball then drew back towards the flag, took a couple of bounces, and dropped into the bottom of the cup.
“An uncomfortable shot for a man who likes to work it from right to left.”
*Proceeds to two hop it in for an ace.*
Hell yeah, Chris Kirk. Love seeing him get off to a hot start in Memphis.
pic.twitter.com/W8MB1EL82w— Jack Milko (@jack_milko) August 15, 2024
“The adjusted number, I think, was 200 or 201. We had it a little bit down the hill, just a breath of breeze off the right, and 6-iron for me, which was, in this heat, it’s a perfect number,” Kirk explained.
“I’m usually around 196 or 197 with a 6-iron. Everything is going a couple of yards further with the heat this week. Great number. 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. Yeah, nice bonus.”
He quickly leaped up to 7-under for the championship and held a sizeable lead over the final few holes. But he closed with a bogey on the par-4 18th after putting his drive into the fairway bunker, which led him to sign for a 6-under 64.
Kirk walked off the golf course with a one-shot advantage over playing partner Taylor Pendrith and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon.
“I did the best I could, and overall really solid day,” Kirk assessed.
Indeed, the 6-time PGA Tour winner turned in a solid performance in the Memphis heat, on a day when the real feel exceeded 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
“I’ve had a tendency to play well in really warm temperatures, too. Not exactly sure why that is,” Kirk said.
“Just being in the south, from Georgia, I’m just comfortable here, and a golf course that I really like.”
Time will tell if Kirk will have the lead at the end of the day, as half the field still has yet to complete their rounds as of this writing. But wherever he sits, Kirk has put himself in a terrific position to compete for another victory this weekend.
He will begin his second round at 12:40 p.m. ET on Friday.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
