[PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox]
It almost seemed like the golf equivalent of a boxing match as Chris Kirk and Sahith Theegala traded blows over the final 18. Kirk eventually provided the knockout blow with a birdie at the 17th hole, taking the Sentry tournament at Kapalua’s Plantation course for his sixth win on the PGA Tour.
The key shot on 17 was a 5-iron struck from 191 metres to kick-in range, giving him the necessary breathing room to where he only needed to par the par-5 finisher. Kirk’s primary irons are the 2023 version of Callaway’s Apex CB irons which use tungsten toe weights to move the centre of gravity closer to face centre to optimise speed. The shafts are Project X LZ 125 6.5.
Kirk also hit another key iron at the par-5 15th from 155 metres that led to an easy two-putt birdie.
Despite solid tee-to-green play, Kirk was not in the top 10 in strokes gained/off the tee or approach which seems odd on a par-73 layout measuring 7,596 yards (6,946 metres). Instead, Kirk used a lethal short game in his first start at the Sentry since 2016, ranking first in strokes gained/around the green and first in scrambling. In order to do that, your wedges not only need to be working, but so does your putter and Kirk had Odyssey’s new Ai One Milled 6T CH mallet – a putter with a titanium face insert – in play which he also used to rank third in putts per green in regulation and first in total putts.
And first in the first event of 2024.
The clubs Chris Kirk used to win the 2024 Sentry:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond ( Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 TX), 9 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 Plus, 15 degrees
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2, 18 degrees
Irons (4): Callaway Apex Pro; (5-9): Callaway Apex CB Forged; (PW): Callaway Jaws MD5
Wedges: Callaway Jaws MD5 (50 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM9 (56 degrees); Callaway Jaws Raw (60 degrees)
Putter: Odyssey Ai One 6T CH
