Kirk Triplett

Kirk Triplett
Triplett in June 2011
Personal information
Full nameKirk Alan Triplett
Born (1962-03-29) March 29, 1962 (age 62)
Moses Lake, Washington
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceScottsdale, Arizona
SpouseCathi
Children4
Career
CollegeNevada
Turned professional1985
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Nationwide Tour
Professional wins17
Highest ranking25 (June 4, 2000)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
Korn Ferry Tour1
PGA Tour Champions8
Other5
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT6: 2001, 2004
PGA ChampionshipT10: 2001
U.S. OpenT7: 2001
The Open ChampionshipT60: 2000
Achievements and awards
Champions Tour
Rookie of the Year		2012

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 years

Born in Moses Lake, Washington, Triplett grew up on the Palouse in Pullman and graduated from Pullman High School in 1980.[2][3] He accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nevada in Reno,[3] and earned a degree in civil engineering. Triplett became a golf professional in 1985 and played on tours in Australia, Asia, and Canada.[4][5][6] He qualified for the U.S. Open in 1986 and 1987, but missed the cuts.[7]

PGA Tour

In his fourth attempt, Triplett earned his PGA Tour card in December 1989 at the qualifying tournament near Houston,[4][8] and was a rookie in 1990.[5][9] He won three events during his career: the Nissan Open in 2000,[6][10] the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2003,[11] and the Chrysler Classic of Tucson in 2006.[12] 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 21½–10½.[13] 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.[14]

Nationwide Tour

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.[15]

PGA Tour Champions

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.[16] The win made him the sixth player to win on all the PGA Tour sponsored tours (PGA Tour, Web.com Tour, and Champions Tour).[17] 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.[18]

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.[19]

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. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 Feb 20, 2000 Nissan Open 67-70-68-67=272 −12 1 stroke Sweden Jesper Parnevik
2 Aug 24, 2003 Reno–Tahoe Open 67-68-73-63=271 −17 3 strokes United States Tim Herron
3 Feb 26, 2006 Chrysler Classic of Tucson 68-71-64-63=266 −22 1 stroke United States Jerry Kelly

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2000 John Deere Classic United States Michael Clark II Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Aug 28, 2011 News Sentinel Open 67-64-68-68=267 −21 2 strokes United States Marco Dawson

Canadian Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Jun 26, 1988 Alberta Open 66-68-64-71=279 −1 Playoff United States Vic Wilk
2 Jul 1, 1988 Fort McMurray Rotary Charity Classic 65-69-70=204 −12 3 strokes South Africa Wayne Bradley

Other wins (3)

PGA Tour Champions wins (8)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jul 8, 2012 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach 70-70-66=206 −10 2 strokes Republic of Ireland Mark McNulty
2 Sep 29, 2013 Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach (2) 67-70-68=205 −11 2 strokes United States Dan Forsman, United States Doug Garwood
3 Feb 16, 2014 ACE Group Classic 67-67-66=200 −16 1 stroke United States Olin Browne, Germany Bernhard Langer,
United States Duffy Waldorf
4 Oct 12, 2014 SAS Championship 70-63-69=202 −14 3 strokes United States Tom Lehman
5 Jun 26, 2016 American Family Insurance Championship 68-66-65=199 −17 2 strokes United States Bart Bryant, United States Mike Goodes
6 Apr 22, 2018 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf
(with England Paul Broadhurst) 		65-48-33-48=194 −24 Playoff Germany Bernhard Langer and United States Tom Lehman
7 Mar 10, 2019 Hoag Classic 70-65-68=203 −10 Playoff United States Woody Austin
8 Sep 29, 2019 PURE Insurance Championship (3) 70-69-67=206 −9 Playoff United States Billy Andrade

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (3–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2018 Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf
(with England Paul Broadhurst) 		Germany Bernhard Langer and United States Tom Lehman Won with birdie on first extra hole
2 2019 Hoag Classic United States Woody Austin Won with eagle on second extra hole
3 2019 PURE Insurance Championship United States Billy Andrade Won with birdie on first extra hole
4 2022 Principal Charity Classic United States Jerry Kelly Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament 1986 1987 1988 1989
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open T33 CUT 66 T52 T23 T40 CUT CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT T15 T13 CUT T13 CUT T49
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament CUT T6 T40 CUT T6 T17
U.S. Open 56 T7 CUT T28 T20 CUT
The Open Championship T60
PGA Championship T69 T10 T29 WD CUT CUT
Tournament 2010 2011
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
  Top 10
  Did not play

WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 2 3 7 4
U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 3 17 9
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 4 14 7
Totals 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

Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Players Championship T36 T68 CUT T39 T45 67 T19 T10 T35 T38
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
The Players Championship T42 T31 CUT T8 CUT T17 T63 T23
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Match Play R64 R32 R16
Championship T14 NT1 65
Invitational T33 DQ T28 T69

1Cancelled due to 9/11

  Top 10
  Did not play

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 before 2022.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
The Tradition T33 T10 T41 T3 75 T16 NT T48 T21 T53 T39
Senior PGA Championship T19 T6 T13 T7 T33 T64 T28 NT T63 T55 CUT T51
U.S. Senior Open T22 T9 8 T57 WD 2 T8 5 NT WD CUT T60 T48
Senior Players Championship T6 T60 T22 2 T7 T9 T28 T65 61 T42 75 66
Senior British Open Championship T15 T8 T25 T3 NT T47 CUT
  Top 10
  Did not play

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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 22 2000 Ending 4 Jun 2000" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  2. ^ "Pullman golf team downs Colfax". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 18, 1980. p. 4C.
  3. ^ a b Ramsdell, Paul (August 9, 1983). "Shooting for the sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  4. ^ a b "Triplett earns PGA Tour card". Idahonian. (Moscow). December 5, 1989. p. 9A.
  5. ^ a b Missildine, Harry (July 19, 1990). "Triplett's approach to success". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 1C.
  6. ^ a b Ferguson, Doug (February 21, 2000). "Triplett's singular sensation". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. C1.
  7. ^ "Watson, Wiebe lead; Pullman's Triplett out of Open". Idahonian. (Moscow). Associated Press. June 20, 1987. p. 19.
  8. ^ "Triplett qualifies for PGA". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). staff and wire reports. December 5, 1989. p. C2.
  9. ^ Bergum, Steve (July 12, 1990). "Tour experience helps Triplett smell Lilac". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). p. C1.
  10. ^ "Triplett delivers overdue victory". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). news services. February 21, 2000. p. D2.
  11. ^ Sonner, Scott (August 25, 2003). "Triplett charges to win". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  12. ^ "Triplett sizzles to win in Tucson". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). February 27, 2006. p. 2B.
  13. ^ "Americans quietly reclaim Cup". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). news services. October 23, 2000. p. D2.
  14. ^ Pells, Eddie (April 12, 2004). "Short memory helps Mickelson on 16". Moscow-Pullman Daily News. (Idaho-Washington). Associated Press. p. 5B.
  15. ^ "Kirk Triplett claims one-shot N'wide win". ESPN. Associated Press. August 28, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  16. ^ "Kirk Triplett wins maiden Champions Tour event". PGA Tour. Associated Press. July 8, 2012. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  17. ^ Stambaugh, Phil (July 8, 2012). "Round 3 notes: Nature Valley First Tee Open". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  18. ^ "Hole In One International - Partners". Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  19. ^ Strege, John (March 10, 2019). "Kirk Triplett's 'Hall of Fame' 3-wood shot gives him playoff win over Woody Austin in Hoag Classic". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 11, 2019.