Veteran PGA Tour player Chris Kirk announced that he will take an indefinite leave from the PGA Tour to deal with issues involving alcohol abuse and depression.
Kirk made the announcement in a tweet on Tuesday morning. In the tweet, Kirk revealed that he has dealt with these issues “for some time now.” He acknowledged that he initially thought he could control his problems on his own, but after “multiple relapses” he has decided to seek help.
Kirk, who turns 34 on Wednesday, is a four-time PGA Tour winner. He hails from Knoxville, Tenn., and played college golf at the University of Georgia alongside fellow Tour pros Kevin Kisner and Brendon Todd.
The highlight of Kirk’s career so far is his victory at the 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which gave him a shot at the FedEx Cup title. He eventually finished second in the standings behind champion Billy Horschel, winning a $3,000,000 bonus.
Kirk’s most recent victory was at the 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, which earned him a spot on the victorious 2015 U.S. Presidents Cup team. But Kirk’s game has slowly fallen off since. In the 2018-19 PGA Tour season, he has missed 11 cuts in 17 tournament starts, falling to No. 188 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
To close his announcement, Kirk stated that he does not know when he will return to professional golf, and that his “full focus” is instead on “being the man my family deserves.”
You can read Kirk’s entire statement below.
https://twitter.com/Chris_Kirk_/status/1125764305113239552
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