We’ve had so many stories which make for unpleasant viewing in golf in the last 12 months so how refreshing it feels to have two feelgood tales in the same weekend.
Chris Kirk and Marcel Siem both ended eight-year waits to celebrate victory again and both wins had powerful and emotional back stories behind them.
Kirk’s terrific win in the Honda Classic in Florida was one to bring a tear to the eye.
He has had to endure struggles with alcohol after admitting life as a PGA Tour professional on the road 30 weeks a year had taken its toll.
Tempo for days.
Chris Kirk's swing is buttery smooth 🧈 pic.twitter.com/KyQnIvivBA
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 27, 2023
He had reached as high as 16th in the world and I can remember him being a fine player who was challenging on a regular basis when I played in the States in 2013 and 2014.
But by 2019, he was struggling badly with his personal demons and it forced him to put his golf career on hold for his own sake and that of his family.
His wife Tahnee and his agent told him to forget about golf and focus on overcoming his issues and he has done just that.
The player who came back to the game was one who had to start all over again in effect so how rewarding it must have felt to celebrate his first win since 2015 on Sunday.
He had to do it the hard way too after finding the water on the last hole before overcoming rookie Eric Cole in the play-off.
With his win, Kirk can look forward to competing in the Masters for the first time in seven years next month.
Playing Augusta National is special any time but it will be even more poignant for Kirk.
He is most looking forward to playing in the Par 3 competition where he will have his three young sons with him.
I’m sure it will be an emotional moment and one the Kirk family will savour every second of.
Siem a worthy winner in India
We had quite the story on the DP World Tour too as Marcel won the Hero Indian Open, ending his own eight year wait for a win.
He has had his own challenges to deal with from losing his tour card to playing on the Challenge Tour while supporting his wife through chemotherapy after she was diagnosed with cancer.
It has been a long road back for Marcel, who just two years ago was questioning whether he would be a winner again, but I watched him close out victory on Sunday in style.
He is a great character and a guy who has always had so much passion for the game.
For both winners on the respective tours, it has been a rollercoaster of emotions but also a testament to the mental strength they have.
Talent gets you so far but you need resilience and mental toughness in this game to overcome the challenges the game and life throws at you.
Clearly, both guys have it in abundance.
Who will lay down a Masters marker at Bay Hill?
We’re in for quite the event this week as the three best players in the game just now are all in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
World number one Jon Rahm is on fire just now but he faces a fight to hold on to his ranking from the man he took top spot from, defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
Then there is Rory McIlroy, who is also keen to get the number one position back. He too is a former champion, having taken the title in 2018.
Add in Max Homa, who has three top five finishes in his last four appearances and you have some unbelievable talent duking it out at Bay Hill this week.
I think it’s brilliant to see the leading players all competing in events like this.
We’re used to seeing the top guys all together only in majors so with 44 of the top 50 in the world taking part I’m really looking forward to seeing how this tournament unfolds.
Somebody has a chance to lay down a marker ahead of the Masters and I’m fascinated to see if they do.
Building a schedule of events my top priority
It’s been a tough start to the year for me relying on invites.
When you don’t know when you are playing and the courses are as tough as India was last week the last thing you want is to be rusty going into them.
I’ve got an invite to play in Kenya next week which I’m looking forward to but I’m going to have a long hard look at the schedule this year.
Dropping in for a week here and there is no use.
I need to try to put some sort of schedule together by building up some momentum on the Challenge Tour around the DP World Tour events I have a chance of receiving an invite for.
Playing more regularly is key for me if I am to achieve my goal of regaining my tour card this year and I need to work out a way I can play competitive tournament golf so I give myself the best chance of competing in DP World Tour events this season.
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