Kirk also had a second-place finish in the 1870 Open Championship after winning a playoff against Davie Strath.

[2] Kirk's best chance to win the Open Championship came in the 1878 Open Championship, held 4 October at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland.

Fellow Scotsman Jamie Anderson won the Championship for the second successive year, by two strokes from runner-up Kirk.

Anderson, Kirk and the English amateur John Ball each scored 53, to be three shots behind.

At this point in time he was beating his legendary father, Tom Morris, Sr., on a regular basis.