Chris Kirk would’ve recorded a unique record to his name had he landed his ball on the 17th green on Saturday. The 38-year-old American had saved himself 41 times from the waters on the par 3 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass. He tied the previous record of most saves from water with Jason Dufner on Friday at The Players Championship.
The par 3s are considered the best place to hit an eagle in golf. However, the 17th hole at Pete Dye’s Stadium Course in TPC Sawgrass can shiver any level golfer with its build. The toughest par 3 hole is surrounded by water and has the hole 120 yards away from the tee box. There are rarely any players who would save themselves by not finding water in four days.
Chris Kirk, who already landed his ball on the green in 40 consecutive rounds before Friday, managed to save himself again on Friday to equal Jason Dufner’s iconic record. He had the chance to better this record on Saturday. However, The Sentry 2024 champion was quite unlucky in the third round of The Players Championship. He missed the green merely by yards after he shot the ball from the tee box. Later on, he finally landed his ball and eventually scored a double bogey on the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.
Interestingly, this was also the first time Kirk found his ball into the water in his entire career playing in The Players Championship.
Did Chris Kirk Ever Win The Player Championship In His Career?
The 38-year-old American has recorded six victories on the PGA Tour but none of them has come on the TPC Sawgrass course. He has participated 11 times in the prestigious tournament, often termed as unofficial fifth major, in his career. However, winning is still a long shot for him as he had not recorded a single top 10 finish yet.
Chris Kirk made his first appearance in The Player Championship in 2011 in which he missed the cut. His best performance at the tournament came in the 2017 edition where he finished T12 on the leaderbaord.
Before his 12th appearance at the TPC Sawgrass, he missed the cut twice consecutively in the previous two editions. After the end of third round of the 2024 edition, he is ranked T38 on the leaderboard. He is trailing by 12 strokes of the solo leader, Xander Schauffele. So, it is quite certain that he will not be recording a victory this year.
