Chris Kirk leaves with hope for future

Chris Kirk just couldn’t find much joy in his walk up the 18th fairway on Sunday at the Masters.

After making bogey on the final hole each of the three previous days, finding his second shot short of the green didn’t leave the former Georgia golfer with much room for taking in the experience.

“I was maybe not very happy with my second shot, so I probably didn’t take the moment to soak it in that maybe I should have,” said Kirk, who went on to make another bogey and finish the day at even par and at 2-over for the tournament. “... Once you get inside the ropes, you don’t have time to sit back and reflect, really. This is a dang-hard golf course and it takes your utmost attention, and you’ve got to grind it out out there.”

If Kirk’s first go-round at the Masters is any indication, he’ll have other opportunities to enjoy the moment a little more.

He and fellow former Georgia golfer Russell Henley made the cut at the tournament for the first time, Kirk in his first start and Henley in his second, and finished in ties for 20th and 31st.

Playing on the weekend in Augusta comes with some newfound inspiration, both said.

“I feel like I could have played so much better, and that’s what makes me feel very hopeful for the future for me in this tournament,” Kirk said. “I played some pretty solid golf, and I hit some good shots, and I made a few putts here and there.”

Kirk’s consistency and his game drew some attention from several of the golfers he played with, including two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer.

“His short game is phenomenal,” said Langer, the 1985 and 1993 champion who played in a group with the 28-year-old Kirk on Thursday and Friday. “His touch, the way he controls the trajectory and spin, it’s very, very good. You don’t see that very often with someone that young.”

Kirk, a two-time PGA Tour event winner, made birdies on Nos. 2, 6, 8 and 13 on Sunday, with bogeys on Nos. 7 and 18 and a double-bogey on the par-3 No. 4.

Henley, 25, had trouble Sunday with bogeys on Nos. 3, 7, 10 and 12 that pushed him to 6 over before back-to-back birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 offered some relief. He finished with a bogey on No. 18 for the second consecutive day.

Henley said a weekend at Augusta offered some perspective on the success he’s had through his first season and a half on the PGA Tour, a stretch that includes two victories.

“It’s just been one or two things every day, and I feel like my game’s getting closer and closer,” Henley said. “I finished 280 last week (at the Houston Shell Open) with a 66 on Sunday, I made the cut at the Masters for the first time. I’m doing a lot of really good things and I’m close to playing excellent golf.”

Kirk and Henley will head to Hilton Head Island, S.C., this week for the RBC Heritage Open, where they hope to carry some lessons learned and momentum from a weekend at the Masters.

“I haven’t played as well as I’d have liked the last few months, but I’m hoping that maybe this will get me headed back in the right direction,” Kirk said. “Playing some good golf under these conditions is definitely going to give me some confidence going into next week.”