FORT WORTH, Texas — Chris Kirk was prepared to need a putt for a playoff at Colonial.

But no extra holes were necessary Sunday for Kirk to get his fourth PGA Tour victory.

Kirk made up for an errant tee shot at No. 18 with a par-saving 7-foot putt after playing partner Brandt Snedeker’s birdie try slid by the hole.

“My first three wins on tour have all been little tap-ins on the last hole,” Kirk said. “So to step up and make a putt that I knew was to win is something I’ll never forget.”

With his closing 4-under 66, Kirk finished at 12-under 268, one ahead of Snedeker, local Masters champion Jordan Spieth and Jason Bohn.

Bohn had a 63 that included six consecutive birdies on the front nine. Spieth shot 65, with a near-birdie that became a bogey at the par-3 16th hole.

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When Kirk got in trouble at No. 18, Bohn and Spieth went to the nearby No. 1 tee and were hitting balls in preparation for a potential playoff. Spieth was already back near the green when Kirk got ready to putt.

Kirk hooked his tee shot at No. 18 into the left rough, then hit his approach from 155 yards over the green. A nice chip set up the winning putt, and Snedeker missed from 12 feet after a similar tee shot.

“Close friends with Brandt, and play a lot of golf with him, and he doesn’t miss very many of those putts,” Kirk said. “Once he didn’t make it, then I was able to change my mind-set.”

Spieth was only a few minutes removed from a 20-foot birdie putt at the closing hole, where more than an hour earlier Bohn had a 28-footer that lipped the cup.

Spieth has finished as the runner-up in all three PGA Tour events in Texas this season.

As a junior at Georgia in 2006, Kirk was the runner-up for the Hogan Award given by Colonial to the nation’s top college player. He decided then to return for his senior year for a chance to win the award – and did.

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He now has a plaid jacket and a $1.17 million check.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Colin Montgomerie answered two front-nine challenges with birdies and shot a 3-under 69 to win the Senior PGA Championship by four strokes in French Lick, Indiana.

Montgomerie finished at 8-under 280 on The Pete Dye Course at French Lick Resort to successfully defend his title and win for the third time in the last six senior major championships. The 51-year-old Scot won last year at Harbor Shores in Michigan, and also won the U.S. Senior Open in July in Oklahoma.

Esteban Toledo twice pulled within a shot on the front nine, but couldn’t keep up. Toledo shot a 69 to finish second. Woody Austin was another shot back after a 69, and Brian Henninger and Scott Verplank tied for fourth at 2 under. They each shot 71.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Byeong Hun An won the BMW PGA Championship for his first European Tour title, closing with a 7-under 65 for a tournament-record 21-under 267 total in Virginia Water, England.

The 23-year-old South Korean player had an eagle and five birdies in his bogey-free round for a six-stroke victory. He earned a spot in the U.S. Open.

Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) and Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee (69) tied for second.


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