JACKSON, Miss. – Stewart Cink told a reporter before the final round that he was going to have “shoot the fur off the course” on Sunday, or else that would be the end of his run with son, Reagan, by his side as his caddie. Then Cink went out and made eight birdies en route to shooting 7-under 65
“Left a little fur on the course,” Cink said. “It was a Top 5 thing. I don’t want Reagan to – he’s a great caddie, he’s doing a great job, but I don’t think I want him to become a caddie. He’s just a little bit too good at doing this to where I think if he keeps going, he might find a home out here.”
Father and son teamed up two weeks ago at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, for Cink’s first victory in more than 11 years, which earned Reagan another start on the bag this week. Somewhere, veteran caddie Kip Henley, who has been Cink’s regular sidekick since the Sanderson Farms Championship last year, was sweating it out as Cink poured in four birdies and one bogey on his first nine holes on Sunday and then tacked on four more birdies on the inward nine. As Cink tapped in for 65, he looked at the scoreboard and he was currently in a share of fifth. (He has since dropped back to T-8 at 13-under 275.)
Sanderson Farms: Leaderboard | Photos
“If you had done it today, Top 5, I would have been super excited about getting out for next week,” Reagan said.
“Same here,” Stewart said.
“I’ve got a life to go get home and live,” Reagan said.
That includes a fiancé back in Atlanta and a job at Delta Airlines. Reagan graduated with a degree in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech and is ready to get back to his role on the technology product management team. If it sounds as challenging as reading putts at the Country Club of Jackson, it probably is. Cink may have finished in the top 5 this week had his putter not gone cold on the weekend, especially in the third round when he lost nearly three strokes to the field with his short stick.
“I concluded after yesterday that I kind of struggle on Bermuda greens a little bit,” Reagan said. “But I don’t think it was solely my fault.”
Don’t be surprised if Reagan as well as brother, Connor, don’t make guest appearances on the bag in the future. Reagan first caddied for dad at the 2013 RBC Canadian Open and also filled in at the 2015 Travelers Championship and 2016 John Deere Classic.
“Took a little hiatus,” Reagan said. “Had to mature a little bit.”
It was in August when Reagan expressed an interest in caddying for his dad at a tournament again.
“I said, ‘How about Safeway?’ ” Cink recalled.
“He did some things that really, really helped me and just — we know each other so well. He’s like a chunk out of my side that grew into a person,” Cink said. “We see shots the same way, feel the same things, and it was good to have him caddying for me. We had a good couple weeks.”
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