What is 2023 PGA Tour Courage Award? All You Wanna Know About the Insane Accolade

Did you know there is a PGA Tour award that honors the courage and resilience of golf personalities? It’s not an annual award. Players have been chosen for this honor when they show up and prove that they are worthy of it. Recently, a PGA Tour pro has been declared as a winner of this award.

As the name suggests, one can imagine that the award honors players who have displayed remarkable courage in their careers. But that’s only the gist of it. What kind of courage are we talking about? And who are the previous winners of this prestigious award? 

The recent winner and his precedents 

After going off-grid in 2019 to focus on his mental health and personal issues, Chris Kirk came back to golf the same year. After going almost eight years without a win, Kirk grabbed his fifth PGA Tour win at the Honda Classic, earlier this year. 

Following up with the win, he had some incredible top-20 and top-10 finishes this season, although there were a few missed cuts as well. To honor the perseverance he showed in making a return to competitive golf, he was recently awarded the PGA Tour Courage award, ahead of the RSM Classic Championship. 

The previous winners of the PGA Tour Courage Award include D.J. Gregory in 2022, Morgan Hoffmann in 2020, Gene Sauers in 2017, Jarrod Lyle in 2015, and Erik Compton in 2013. Gregory is the only non-player among the five. He was born with Cerebral Palsy. His effort to walk more than 14000 miles and 42000 holes, in support of his Walking for Kids foundation, received admiration and respect.     

The award recognizes talents that have battled with “extraordinary adversity such as personal tragedy or debilitating injury or illness” and have overcome the adversity “to make a significant and meaningful contribution to the game of golf.” What were the challenges Chris Kirk faced in his darkest days?

Chris Kirk’s history of depression

Chris Kirk spoke about how disturbing it was for him to travel around for his career. It reduced his family time drastically, and he confessed to crying alone in hotel rooms, missing his loved ones. The 38-year-old now recalls how he had a sort of developed an aversion toward competitive golf. He said, “I kind of felt like golf did this to me.”

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He thanked his wife and everyone else who supported him strongly. Kirk narrated how his time off from the course helped him learn things that he didn’t realize earlier. He mentioned how he realized golf wasn’t the problem. 

Kirk proudly claimed that his perseverance and determination have always been his strengths. He was happy with how these traits helped him get back on his feet again. With the RSM Classic to begin soon, this could probably boost him up for a sixth win in his career. Are you rooting for him?

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