Local hero Chris Kirk is preparing to defend his title at the McGladrey Classic as the PGA Tour heads to Georgia.

The 29-year-old, who beat Briny Baird by just one shot on the Sea Island Course last year, has lived nearby at St Simons Island for six years and approaches this weekend’s tournament in high spirits.

Kirk claimed his third PGA Tour triumph at September’s Deutsche Bank Championship and finished fourth in the Tour Championship.

Tournament host Davis Love III, US Ryder Cup duo Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar and five-time Tour winner Jonathan Byrd are among those expected to challenge Kirk, while Webb Simpson has good form in Brunswick.

His three previous visits have yielded 12th, second and seventh-placed finishes and the 29-year-old recently tied for fourth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.

Another strong contender will be rookie Tony Finau.

The Utah-born player, who turned professional in 2007, is enjoying a breakthrough season having tied for 12th at the Frys.com Open before claiming a share of seventh place in Las Vegas last week. And will be suitably reluctant to rest on his laurels at Sea Island.

“I think my confidence on the golf course is pretty high,” he added. “I’m coming off a couple of nice finishes.

“But you know, I definitely don’t feel like I’m getting comfortable or complacent or anything.”

Pádraig Harrington – who survived the first cut in the Shriners tournament last weekend only to miss out on the second cut which came after the third round – is competing at Sea Island.

The Dubliner is playing on sponsor’s exemptions having lost his tour card and is aiming to win sufficient money on such sponsors’ exemptions to win back his playing privileges. However, Harrington also still has the fallback of using a one-off season’s exemption for being in the top-50 all-time money winners on the PGA Tour if that doesn’t work.