Georgia graduate Chris Kirk says SEC will be 'a different animal' for Texas, Oklahoma

Chris Kirk had plenty to smile about Thursday.

The 39-year-old Knoxville native, who is 28th in the FedEx Cup standings, walked off the course at TPC Southwind as the early leader at the FedEx St. Jude Championship . He partially owes his 6-under-par 64 to a hole-in-one on No. 14 − his fourth in PGA Tour play and first since 2021.

Even when the conversation during the post-round interview steered away from golf, Kirk was still in good spirits.

The Georgia graduate lives in Atlanta and is an avid college football fan. Naturally. Considering his alma mater (which won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022) is the consensus preseason No. 1 and the odds-on favorite to win the title in 2025, Kirk is counting the days until kickoff.

"Yeah, two weeks," he said.

Kirk is particularly eager to see how former Big 12 powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma − newcomers to the SEC this season − will fare in what is widely regarded as the most powerful conference in the country.

Are the Longhorns and Sooners ready for big-boy football?

"I think some of them are, yeah," Kirk said. "I think Texas is a pretty legit team. They showed that last year. But yeah, I think it will be very interesting to see how they react to a full SEC schedule. That's kind of a different animal a little bit where you don't have − we obviously schedule some out-of-conference, kind of, easier games, but you play a game against Kentucky or Mississippi State or a team like that, then you think, 'Oh, I'm just going to go walk all over these guys.'

FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP: Look: Chris Kirk hits hole-in-one in first round of FedEx St. Jude Championship

"They'll beat you if you're not ready for it. I'm as excited to watch as everybody else is."

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Georgia graduate Chris Kirk says SEC will be 'a different animal' for Texas, Oklahoma