After 179 starts and nearly eight years since his last victory on the PGA Tour, Chris Kirk survived finding the water on 18 to beat rookie Eric Cole in a playoff for the Honda Classic.

Kirk came into Sunday with a two-stroke lead, and after a two-under front nine he was enjoying a gap on the rest of the field. 

Cole was not flawless, but his work on the greens was exceptional, with 11 one-putts through the first 15 holes to keep the pressure on Kirk as he tried to become the first rookie winner this season.

Paired together, the duo reached the final hole with Kirk ahead by one, but after a perfect tee shot he went for the par-five green in two, coming up just short and finding the water.

It left the door wide open for Cole, who could have stolen the win with a birdie, but his approach found the bunker, and he could only salvage a par. Meanwhile, Kirk made bogey, setting them up to replay the 18th for the playoff.

This time Kirk's tee shot nestled in right behind a tree trunk, forcing him to play conservative and lay-up, while Cole went for it in two and was long into the bunker.

Kirk's approach was the tournament winner, spinning it into range for a tap-in birdie, and while Cole got out of the bunker and gave himself a makeable birdie putt, it tragically lipped out to hand Kirk the win.

Speaking after stepping off the final green, Kirk reflected on his journey the past few years, having temporarily stepped away from the game in 2019 to deal with alcohol and depression issues.

"I can't yet [describe it]," he said. "I just have so much to be thankful for. I'm so grateful for my sobriety, I'm so grateful for my family, I'm so grateful for everyone who has supported me throughout the past three or four years especially.

"I definitely did [draw on recent top-three finishes]. I was obviously very, very nervous today, having not won in so long. 

"Going down the stretch I felt good, obviously that putt on 16 was huge. I was in a great position on 18, but just made a bad swing at the wrong time. 

"I was just trying to stay aggressive and hit it in the middle of the green, but you know, in hindsight it probably would have been better to hit it over to the left somewhere – but thank god it worked out."

For the win, Kirk took home $1.5million, while Cole's consolation prize of $915,000 will soften the blow.

Chris Kirk will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Honda Classic after carding a 66 on Saturday to close in on his first PGA Tour title in eight years. 

The American, who claimed the last of his four top-tier triumphs back in 2015, leads a field that is devoid of any of the world's top-17 golfers.

His nearest rival is world number 330 Eric Cole, while playing partner and overnight leader Justin Suh is three strokes back after signing for an even-par 70.

Kirk, fresh from a stunning second-round 62, birdied the 17th and 18th to take charge at PGA National, although at least one household name is in the hunt.

World number 20 and 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry put himself firmly in the mix with a 65 that leaves him with a four-stroke deficit to overcome on Sunday. 

And the Irishman is playing with added motivation as he seeks to pay a fitting tribute to his uncle Jimmy Lowry, who died on Thursday.

"It's a very sad week for our family," he said. "To be honest, I wanted to go home on Thursday when I heard the news. A lot of people talked me out of it.

"I'm here now. I'm trying to play for him and play for his wife and his kids and my cousins and my uncles and my aunts and everyone at home because we're a very close family and very proud of our name and very proud of where we come from."

Reigning Korn Ferry Tour Championship winner Justin Suh has a chance to win his first PGA Tour event after finishing Friday's second round of the Honda Classic with the outright lead.

Suh, 25, produced a near-perfect campaign last season on the Korn Ferry Tour, finishing number one overall in points, winning the Tour Championship and being voted the tour's Player of the Year.

He has made the cut in eight of his 11 events to start his PGA Tour career, and after collecting his first top-20 in January's Farmers Insurance Open, he is looking to break through in a big way.

After his opening 66 at PGA National, Suh followed it up with a six-under 64 to reach 10 under overall and take a one-stroke lead into the weekend.

Alone in second place is Chris Kirk, who sits one shot back at nine under after posting a 62 for Friday's round of the day.

England's Ben Taylor is joined by American Monday qualifier Ryan Gerard in a tie for third at eight under, while the trio of Ben Martin, Eric Cole and Brice Garnett round out the top-five at seven under.

After finishing the opening round tied for the lead, both Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett fell back into a tie for 28th, following their 65s with a pair of 73s.

With none of the world's top-17 golfers in the field, world number 20 Shane Lowry will feel he still has a chance from his position at four under, tied for 16th, while 18th-ranked Im Sung-jae is at two under.

Billy Horschel and Joseph Bramlett are co-leaders at five under after Thursday's opening round of the Honda Classic.

Horschel came into the event as the second-highest ranked player in the field, at world number 19, as many of the world's best opted to take the week off ahead of bigger prize pools at the upcoming Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players.

Looking to capitalise on the weaker field, Horschel posted six birdies and one bogey during his first trip this week around PGA National in his home state of Florida. Meanwhile, Bramlett went bogey-free for his 65, joining Horschel at the summit after a birdie on his final hole.

Rounding out an all-American top-five are Pierceson Coody, Justin Suh and Carson Young tied for third at four under, and Young still has three holes to play after his round was cut short by fading light.

The only player in the field ranked higher than Horschel – world number 18 Im Sung-jae – is part of the logjam at three under that includes English duo Ben Taylor and Matt Wallace, while world number 20 Shane Lowry headlines the group one further back with Australia's Min Woo Lee.

Defending champion Sepp Straka made a safe start at one under, with last season's title the first and only of his PGA Tour career so far.

Sepp Straka birdied three of the final five holes to clinch his maiden PGA Tour triumph after overnight leader Daniel Berger crumbled at the Honda Classic on Sunday.

Straka became the first-ever Austrian to win a PGA Tour title while he was the sixth first-time winner on the tour this season.

The 28-year-old Austrian started the final day tied for second in a group of four alongside Shane Lowry, Kurt Kitayama and Chris Kirk who were five strokes behind Berger.

But Straka carded a final-round four-under-66 highlighted by his late flurry in wet conditions at Palm Beach Gardens to win outright at 10-under overall.

"They were pretty tough [conditions]," Straka said after the win. "For a little while the wind let down before the rain started which was nice but on the last hole, that second shot into the green it started pouring rain. I was glad I could hit that one on the green two-putt."

Straka and Lowry went into the 18th hole tied at nine-under, but the Irishman could only make par, while the Austrian's two putt earned him the decisive birdie.

Lowry had led by as much as two strokes down the back nine but Straka surged with a fine approach on the 14th setting up birdie, while he sunk a birdie putt from off the green on the 16th to draw level.

Kitayama finished third at eight-under, with Berger's final-round four-over-74 seeing him slide from a five-stroke lead to three shots off the pace.

The American, who resides nearby to Palm Beach Gardens in Florida, saw him lead evaporate quickly, with a double bogey on the third hole, along with bogeys on the fifth and sixth.

Berger, ranked 20th on the PGA Tour, holed a clutch bunker shot on the seventh hole along with a chip for birdie on the 14th but could not do enough to retrieve his lead.

Florida native Daniel Berger moved five strokes clear ahead of the final day at the Honda Classic, matching the largest 54-hole lead in tournament history on Saturday.

The world number 20 had held a three-shot lead at the halfway mark but extended that with a one-under-69 following back-to-back 65s at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida.

Berger led by as many as six strokes after sticking a brilliant tee shot for birdie on the par-three 15th hole before a bogey on the 18th hole.

The American leads from a group of four players tied on six-under, including Irishman Shane Lowry who carded a round of six-under-67 to move up the leaderboard.

Lowry is tied with Sepp Straka, Chris Kirk and day one leader Kurt Kitayama, with the latter two carding rounds of one-over-71 having been tied for second after the first two days.

“Obviously you want to go out and catch him tomorrow, but I don’t think you can go and catch anyone on this golf course," said Lowry, whose round was the best of the day with only 13 players above even.

“You just need to do your thing and shoot the best score you can and hopefully it will be somewhere near good enough."

Lowry's round included four birdies and a bogey, while he drained a 20-foot putt on the sixth hole to save par.

Canadian Adam Svensson is one stroke back from the quartet at five-under, before a three-shot gap to the next in the field.

Pre-tournament favourites Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen are both well back, at one-over and two-over overall respectively.

Hometown hero Daniel Berger opened up a three-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the Honda Classic in Florida after carding six birdies on Friday.

Berger, who is ranked 20th in the world, backed up his opening day five-under 65 with a repeat score, highlighted by a 38-foot birdie putt on the par-three seventh hole, to be 10-under at Palm Beach Gardens.

The Florida native leads by three shots from Chris Kirk and first day leader Kurt Kitayama, the latter carding a one-under-69 to slip from the summit.

“Just one of those days when I kept the momentum going,” Berger told reporters. “I hit a lot of quality shots, even though they don't look like they're five feet from the hole, or 10 feet from the hole.

“I know that they're so difficult, that to hit it to 20 feet is a good shot. And that's the challenge for this golf course is the pins are tucked, the greens are firm, wind's up, so you have to be really on point with where you're going to miss.”

Mark Hubbard surged up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth alongside Canadian Adam Svensson with the pair carding rounds of 64 and 65 respectively to be six-under overall.

Pre-tournament favourite Louis Ousthuizen produced a strong round to avoid the cut, after his opening day five-over-75.

The South African is even after two rounds, behind Berger by 10 strokes, but managed six birdies on his back nine to stay in contention after a double bogey on the 11th hole seemed to condemn him.

Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka is among a large group alongside Oosthuizen that are even after two rounds with the American carding a two-over-72.

Padraig Harrington, Brian Harman, Charl Schwartzel and last week's Genesis Invitational winner Joaquin Niemann were among those to miss the cut.

Kurt Kitayama managed four straight birdies on his back nine to claim the lead ahead of Daniel Berger in a group of three after the opening day of the Honda Classic in Florida on Thursday.

The little-known American carded a six-under-round of 64, starting the day with three straight birdies, before his hot run on his back nine at Palm Beach Gardens.

Kitayama has enjoyed a good recent period, making the cut at his past five starts before Thursday's impressive feat as solo leader.

"I think when you're struggling, I think just that self-motivation to find keep getting better and finding a way to figure it out, it's kind of how you've got to keep going," Kitayama told reporters.

The 29-year-old leads by one stroke from Rory Sabbatini, Chris Kirk and hometown hero Berger who are five-under.

World number 20 Berger started his round brilliantly, with three birdies on his first four holes, while he also sunk a 28-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole with no ill-effects from a back problem that has been plaguing him lately.

Slovakian veteran Sabbatini made birdie on the 18th to jump into a share of second, with Kirk having eight birdies and three bogeys in an entertaining round.

Danny Willett, Matthias Schwab, Andrew Kozan, Aaron Rai and Peter Uihlein are all next tied for fifth at three under.

Four-time major winner and current world number 15 Brooks Koepka managed three birdies in his round of two-under-68 to be four shots off the pace.

Last week's Genesis Invitational winner Joaquin Niemann had an even round of 70, despite leading early after four birdies on his front nine, with a double bogey holding him up on the fourth hole.

Pre-tournament favourite Louis Oosthuizen will battle to make the cut after five bogeys on the front nine before a double bogey on the 17th hole left him with a five-over-75.

Matt Jones eased to victory at The Honda Classic by five strokes for his first PGA Tour title in seven years.

Not since the 2014 Houston Open had Jones won on the PGA Tour, but the unheralded Australian golfer ended his agonising drought on Sunday.

Jones carded a final-round 68 to reach 12 under overall and tie the largest margin of victory at The Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

The 40-year-old mixed five birdies with three bogeys as he claimed his second Tour title after taming PGA National, while booking a spot at next month's Masters.

"I've had some tough times between that and now," a tearful Jones said after finishing ahead of Brandon Hagy. "It's pretty emotional… seven years.

"I just worked hard, working out with my coach back in Australia and it's paid off.

"It was probably the calmest I've been at a golf tournament for four straight days. You can't get a tougher golf course to win on than this one, in these conditions.

"To be able to do that is something that I can build on for the rest of the year hopefully."

Hagy's runner-up finish capped a memorable week for the 30-year-old California native, who closed out the tournament with a four-under-par 66.

The American entered the field on Wednesday as second-to-last alternate when Kramer Hickok withdrew and then shot a career-low 62 on Friday.

Hagy secured his first top-two finish and second career top-10 performance in his 81st start on Tour.

Chase Seiffert (64), Brendan Steele (65), Denny McCarthy (67), Russell Henley (68) and C.T. Pan were tied for third, six shots adrift of Jones.

Defending champion Im Sung-jae posted a 70 in the final round to finish seven strokes off the pace.