Kirk Alan Triplett (born March 29, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and PGA Tour Champions.
Early life and amateur career Born in Moses Lake, Washington, Triplett grew up on the Palouse in Pullman and graduated from Pullman High School He accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nevada and earned a degree in civil engineering.
Professional career Triplett became a golf professional in 1985 and played on tours in Australia, Asia, and Canada. He qualified for the U.S. Open in 1986 and 1987, but missed the cuts.
In his fourth attempt, Triplett earned his PGA Tour card in December 1989 at the qualifying tournament near Houston, and was a rookie in 1990. He won three events during his career: the Nissan Open in 2000, the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2003, and the Chrysler Classic of Tucson in 2006. He was also a runner-up five times: Houston Open (1992), Buick Invitational (1995), John Deere Classic (2000), Michelob Championship at Kingsmill (2001), and Bay Hill Invitational (2003).
A member of the Presidents Cup team in 2000, Triplett claimed three wins and halved in singles as the U.S. won His career best Official World Golf Ranking was 25th in June 2000.
Triplett's best result in a major championship was a tie for sixth at the Masters, in 2001 and 2004. The latter included a hole in one, late in the fourth round at the par-3 16th (Redbud); in the preceding pairing ten minutes earlier, Pádraig Harrington had also aced it.
In 2009, Triplett finished outside the top 150 on the money list and lost his PGA Tour playing card. On the Nationwide Tour in 2011, he won the News Sentinel Open at age 49 to become that tour's oldest winner ever.
Senior career Eligible to play on the Champions Tour in 2012 after March 29, Triplett won in his eighth attempt on July 9, at the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. He entered the final round four strokes behind, but shot a final round 66 to surge through the pack and prevail by two strokes over Mark McNulty. The win made him the sixth player to win on all the PGA Tour sponsored tours (PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, and Champions Tour). He successfully defended the title in 2013 for his second Champions Tour win.
Triplett shot a tournament record 9-under-par at the Principal Charity Classic at West Glen Oaks Country Club in Des Moines, Iowa. Through December 2018, he has six wins on the PGA Tour Champions.
Triplett is also part owner of a hole in one insurance company called Hole In One International in conjunction with President/CEO Mark Gilmartin.
In March 2019, Triplett won the Hoag Classic in Newport Beach, California in a playoff over Woody Austin. Playing the par-5 18th hole at Newport Beach Country Club for the third time on the final day of the tournament, Triplett holed an 18-foot eagle putt for his seventh PGA Tour Champions victory.
In September 2019, Triplett won the PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in a playoff over Billy Andrade.
Professional wins (17) PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1 Feb 20, 2000Nissan Open67-70-68-67=272−121 stroke Jesper Parnevik2Aug 24, 2003Reno–Tahoe Open67-68-73-63=271−173 strokes Tim Herron3Feb 26, 2006Chrysler Classic of Tucson68-71-64-63=266−221 stroke Jerry Kelly
PGA Tour playoff record (0–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12000John Deere Classic Michael Clark IILost to birdie on fourth extra hole
Nationwide Tour wins (1) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Aug 28, 2011News Sentinel Open67-64-68-68=267−212 strokes Marco Dawson
Canadian Tour wins (2) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Jun 26, 1988Alberta Open66-68-64-71=279−1Playoff Vic Wilk2Jul 1, 1988Fort McMurray Rotary Charity Classic65-69-70=204−123 strokes Wayne Bradley
Other wins (3) 1988 Sierra Nevada Open 1991 California State Open 1996 Merrill Lynch Pebble Beach Invitational
PGA Tour Champions wins (8) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jul 8, 2012Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach70-70-66=206−102 strokes Mark McNulty2Sep 29, 2013Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (2)67-70-68=205−112 strokes Dan Forsman, Doug Garwood3Feb 16, 2014ACE Group Classic67-67-66=200−161 stroke Olin Browne, Bernhard Langer, Duffy Waldorf4Oct 12, 2014SAS Championship70-63-69=202−143 strokes Tom Lehman5Jun 26, 2016American Family Insurance Championship68-66-65=199−172 strokes Bart Bryant, Mike Goodes6Apr 22, 2018 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf(with Paul Broadhurst)65-48-33-48=194−24Playoff Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman7Mar 10, 2019 Hoag Classic70-65-68=203−10Playoff Woody Austin8Sep 29, 2019PURE Insurance Championship (3)70-69-67=206−9Playoff Billy Andrade
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–1) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12018Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf(with Paul Broadhurst) Bernhard Langer and Tom LehmanWon with birdie on first extra hole22019Hoag Classic Woody Austin Won with eagle on second extra hole32019PURE Insurance Championship Billy Andrade Won with birdie on first extra hole42022Principal Charity Classic Jerry KellyLost to birdie on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989 Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenT33CUT66T52T23T40CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTPGA ChampionshipCUTCUTT15T13CUTT13CUTT49 Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentCUTT6T40CUTT6T17U.S. Open56T7CUTT28T20CUTThe Open ChampionshipT60PGA ChampionshipT69T10T29WDCUTCUT Tournament 2010 2011 Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship
WD = withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 2 3 7 4U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 3 17 9The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 4 14 7Totals 0 0 0 0 4 10 40 21 Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (2000 U.S. Open – 2001 PGA) Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (2001 Masters – 2001 PGA)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament1990199119921993199419951996199719981999The Players ChampionshipT36T68CUTT39T4567T19T10T35T38 Tournament20002001200220032004200520062007The Players ChampionshipT42T31CUTT8CUTT17T63T23
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament200020012002200320042005Match PlayR64R32R16ChampionshipT14NT165InvitationalT33DQT28T69 1Cancelled due to 9/11
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied DQ = disqualified NT = No tournament
Results in senior major championships Results not in chronological order. Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 20192020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA ChampionshipT19T6T13T7T33T64T28NTT63T55CUTT51T35CUTThe TraditionT33T10T41T375T16NTT48T21T53T39T42T24U.S. Senior OpenT22T98T57WD2T85NTWDCUTT60T48T5855Senior Players ChampionshipT6T60T222T7T9T28T6561T427566T63T48Senior British Open ChampionshipT15T8T25T3NTT47CUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut WD = withdrew "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
U.S. national team appearances Professional Presidents Cup: 2000 (winners)
See also 1989 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links