Kirk Triplett adds Black Lives Matter sticker to bag ahead of Champions major

Kirk Triplett will have a Black Lives Matter sticker on his bag this week at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship, becoming the first player on a PGA Tour-sanctioned circuit to openly support the movement via golf bag signage or clothing.

Triplett and his wife, Cathi, have an adopted son who is African-American. He explained that some of the difficult conversations he has had recently with his 18-year-old son, Kobe, prompted him to add a public display of support heading into the first major this year on the over-50 circuit.

“This seems like a good venue where this message maybe doesn’t get spread as much, right? Golf’s a very insulated game,” Triplett said. “For me, personally, I was affected kind of more personally this time and then it seemed like a natural thing, with having an African-American son in the house and having to have these conversations. That’s a conversation that I think for people around golf, it just doesn’t hit home.”

Triplett, 58, won three times on the PGA Tour and has added eight victories on PGA Tour Champions, including two last year. He finished T-14 two weeks ago at the Ally Challenge in the first Champions event since March. He’ll begin play Thursday at Firestone Country Club alongside Jeff Maggert and Angel Cabrera with hopes of bringing attention to a social issue with personal importance.

“It doesn’t just have to come from the African-American side,” Triplett said. “It needs to come from all sides, so hence the sticker.”