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Karrikins are active components of smoke that can promote seed germination and regulate seedling morphogenesis. However, the role of karrikins as alleviators of abiotic stress remains largely elusive. In this study, we examined whether exogenous application of karrikin₁ (KAR₁) might improve drought tolerance in creeping bentgrass (<i>Agrostis stolonifera</i> cv. PennA4), and investigated the underlying mechanism. We found that exogenous application of 100 nM KAR₁ enhanced drought tolerance in creeping bentgrass, as manifested by significant increases in leaf relative water content, efficiency of photosystem II, leaf chlorophyll content, proline content, and membrane stability, as well as significantly enhanced activities of antioxidant enzymes. RT–PCR analysis indicated that improved drought stress tolerance by application of KAR₁ might be related to upregulation expression of karrikin-responsive genes (<i>KAI2</i>, <i>MAX2</i> and <i>AFL1</i>), transcription factors (<i>ABF3</i>, <i>bHLH148</i>, <i>MYB13</i> and <i>DREB2A</i>), antioxidant defense genes (<i>Cu/Zn-SOD</i>, <i>APX2</i>, <i>CAT1</i>, and <i>POD2</i>), and downregulation expression of chlorophyll-degradation genes (<i>PPH</i> and <i>Chl-PRX</i>). These findings suggest that KAR₁ may promote the drought tolerance of creeping bentgrass by activating karrikin-responsive genes and transcription factors, enhancing proline accumulation and antioxidant capacity, and suppressing leaf senescence under prolonged drought stress.