Golf Pro Chris Kirk Attributes Sobriety to the ‘Grace of God’
By Movieguide® Contributor
After winning the Honda Classic last Sunday, Chris Kirk revealed that his true victory is in the sobriety he attained through God’s grace.
“I owe everything that I have in my entire life to sobriety,” Kirk said. “I wouldn’t be doing this for a living anymore, I probably wouldn’t have the family that I have currently anymore. I came really close to losing everything that I cared about.”
In May 2019, Kirk gave up golf. After using alcohol to medicate his depression and anxiety for many years, he decided that he needed to make a change.
“This may sound crazy, but I feel like if I am going to get better, this is what I have to do. I cannot play anymore. I have to be at home, and I have got to put all of my focus into this,” Kirk told his family and agent.
Kirk returned to the PGA Tour in November 2019 a changed man. He was able to overcome his alcoholism and bring himself back from the edge—a victory he does not take for granted.
“For that to have happened and worked out for me, obviously, it was some decisions that I made, but mostly the grace of God,” he said. “And a lot of other people that really helped me along the way.”
Kirk has since continued an already stellar golf career, achieving his first victory on the PGA Tour since he won the Crowne Plaza Invitational in May of 2015. He views Sunday’s victory and his continued golf career as a “bonus” to everything else he has reclaimed since getting sober.
“Definitely still trying to wrap my head around it, for sure, but I’m just so thankful to be able to do what I do for a living,” he said. “I’m very thankful to have the life that I have, and to have the opportunity to compete on a stage like this, in a tournament like this, and to be able to pull it off is a huge bonus for me.”
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