Tag: Stewart Cink

Stewart Cink strolls to his third RBC Heritage victory

Stewart Cink is the second two-time winner on the PGA Tour this super season. He’s also now a three-time winner of the RBC Heritage. 

Stewart Cink is the second two-time winner on the PGA Tour this super season. He’s also now a three-time winner of the RBC Heritage.

Cink cruised to the title on Sunday with a boring scorecard: a birdie on 5, a bogey on 12 and a birdie on 17 sprinkled amongst a whole bunch of pars. His final-round 70 was more than enough to hold off the field, with Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner III getting within three shots but no closer at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Cink, 47, finished at 19 under to win by four. He also won the event in 2000 and 2004 and joins Davis Love III and Hale Irwin as three-time winners of the tournament. Cink also won the Tour’s season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, California, and joins Bryson DeChambeau as a multiple winner on Tour. Cink’s two wins this season have come after a 12-year winless stretch.

This was also the second win for Cink with his son Reagan on the bag.

RBC Heritage: Photos | Leaderboard

Varner opened and closed his week at Harbour Town by shooting a 66. He finished 17 under  to claim a tie for second with Grillo. For Varner, it’s the best finish of his Tour career. His previous best was a tie for third at the 2019 Northern Trust.

Grillo has one Tour victory, the 2016 Frys.com Open. Maverick McNealy, Corey Conners and Matt Fitzpatrick finished tied for fourth at 13 under.

Up next is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

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Stewart Cink keeps pursuers at bay, leads by 5 entering final round of RBC Heritage

Stewart Cink is firmly in the driver’s seat at the RBC Heritage as he chases his second win this season.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Stewart Cink didn’t sink.

The PGA Tour veteran of more than two decades shook off a lethargic start and then maintained his healthy advantage on the field in Saturday’s third round of the RBC Heritage on a sun-splashed Harbour Town Golf Links.

Armed with a five-stroke lead after posting a pair of 63s to set the 36-hole tournament scoring record, Cink made a sloppy par on the second and bogeyed the third thanks to a poor drive and a bad putt.

But he slammed home a 24-footer for birdie on the par-3 fourth hole and added a 6-footer for birdie on the par-5 fifth to up his lead to seven shots.

No one got closer than five the rest of the round.

Cink added another birdie from close range on the par-3 14th – he’s the PGA Tour leader in par-3 scoring average – and signed for a 2-under-par 69 to finish at 18-under 195 – breaking the 54-hole tournament record total by two shots (previously held by Justin Leonard in 2002).

“One of the things that we talked about before the round, and I talked to Lisa (Cink’s wife) about it, too, was expecting some adversity out there and being prepared for something like No. 3 where I missed a pretty easy putt, just a little left-to-righter, four feet,” Cink said. “But that kind of adversity under the circumstances is something you have to expect. The next hole I blasted that putt. If it hadn’t hit the hole, it was probably going at least eight feet past, but it hit the dead center of the hole. I did feel a little bit calm after that putt went in.

“It was not the hottest day with the putter, but under the circumstances it’s not easy to remain totally freed up. I was a little bit tied up in the results and it’s something I can recognize and hopefully get better at tomorrow. But it’s natural; it happens to everybody.

“Overall, though, I’m still pleased with a pretty solid round and didn’t do a lot of damage to myself.”

Reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa is Cink’s closest pursuer. Morikawa birdied four of his last six holes to shoot 67 and move to 13 under.

Six back is Emiliano Grillo (69). Seven back are Matt Wallace (65) and Sungjae Im (69). Defending champion Webb Simpson, who began his round 13 shots behind Cink, shot the day’s lowest round, a 64, and stood eight back with Matt Fitzpatrick (68), Harold Varner III (69) and Corey Conners (72).

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson shot an unspectacular 71 and is still at 5 under.

“I’ve got to put some pressure on (Cink) at the beginning,” Morikawa said. “If I go out and shoot even par like I did on the front nine today, it’s not going to get the job done no matter how many birdies I make on the back.

“I’m going to probably need a little help from him but knowing that this is a course where you can see 9-, 8-, 7-unders, I’m going to have to do that. I’ve seen parts of my game be able to do that, so we’ll hopefully put 18 holes together tomorrow.”

Added Grillo: “This keeps me there in the mix for second place so far. Stewart is playing some great golf out there and it’s going to be a hard day tomorrow if he keeps playing this way. I don’t know how the conditions are going to be. For sure they’re going to be dry and fast, and just got to go and make some birdies.”

Wallace said he has to make his move before Cink hits the home stretch.

“He’s just playing some great golf. I’ve just got to take care of myself, and if that gives me a chance with nine holes to go, with four, five holes to go, anything can happen around those last four, five holes,” he said. “That’s my thinking.”

After the round, Cink brought up a similar 54-hole lead he had 17 years ago at Firestone, when he led by five with 18 to play. He won by four.

“I remember sleeping little that night, and I’m a little different person now, and I think I’m treating this whole tournament with a little bit more gratitude, Reagan (his son) caddying and all that stuff, and it’s been sort of a stop and sort of pinch myself along the way and enjoying it more than I’m fretting over it.

“But it’ll still be a rollercoaster emotionally, and it’s going fun challenge to embrace that instead of fighting against it, creating some kind of a conflict.”

If he does win Sunday, Cink would have eight PGA Tour titles on his resume and would join Bryson DeChambeau as the only two-time winners on the PGA Tour this season. Cink won the season-opening Safeway Open, his first victory since capturing the Claret Jug in the 2009 British Open.

It would also be his third victory here – he won in 2000 and 2004.

Cink is in range to break the tournament record of 22 under set by Simpson last year, when the event was held in June due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Also in range for Cink is the record victory margin of 10 set by Brian Gay in 2009. Cink has made just two bogeys in 54 holes, more than offset by two eagles and 16 birdies.

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Record-setting Stewart Cink sails to 5-shot lead in RBC Heritage at Harbour Town

Stewart Cink kept his smooth ride humming on Friday at Harbour Town Golf Links.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Stewart Cink kept his smooth ride humming Friday and cruised out to a five-shot lead through 36 holes in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links.

Make that a historical smooth ride.

With a second consecutive 8-under-par 63 on a cool, overcast day, Cink sits atop the leaderboard at 16-under 126 – three shots better than the previous record total for the tournament’s opening 36 holes held by Jack Nicklaus (1975) and Phil Mickelson (2002).

The 16-under total in his first two rounds is a career best – he shot 14 under the first two rounds in 2001 at Doral. This also marks Cink’s first 36-hole lead in more than 4,600 days (he led after two rounds at the 2008 Travelers).

“Every day I wake up, I remind myself that I’m like a PGA Tour player at age 47,” said Cink, a seven-time PGA Tour winner who called his first round a “smooth ride” and didn’t change his mind after the second round. “I probably didn’t expect to be here still when I was 47, so it’s a good reminder for me because it keeps me calm and it gives me sort of a sense of reality and a dose of like hey, there’s not really all that much expectations of me that I can just come out here and have fun.”

Cink is five shots clear of Corey Conners, who put himself on the first page of the leaderboard once again with a 64 to sit at 11-under 131.

Emiliano Grillo also posted 64 in the second round and is in third at 10 under.

In a tie for fourth at 9 under are overnight leader Cameron Smith, who followed his 62 with a 71; reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa (65-68); Sungjae Im (68-65), who is Cink’s neighbor in Georgia; and Billy Horschel (66-67).

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is at 5 under after rounds of 70-67.

It’s hard to believe that Cink, who won this event in 2000 and 2004, hit his first tee shot on Thursday into a water hazard. Since then, he’s made 13 birdies and two eagles without a bogey on the two cards. With his son, Reagan, on the bag – the two teamed to win the 2020 Safeway Classic – Cink said, in simple terms, he’s done everything well.

“There hasn’t been a day of crazy makes and hole-outs. It’s just been really solid planning and discipline, combined with good execution,” said Cink, who won the 2009 British Open at Turnberry. “I’ve had a lot of really good looks at birdies, and I’ve felt very comfortable on the greens, and having Reagan out there is just another level of that comfort that doesn’t always exist when you’re up near the lead on the PGA Tour.

“I love playing golf. I don’t really want to stop doing this as a job, and the guys that come out here year after year get better and better, younger and younger, and they don’t make it any easier, so I have to continue getting more out of myself and managing myself different ways, and Reagan has been a huge help as far as that goes. There’s a lot of work still to come, and I’ve seen leads like this go away quickly and I’ve seen leads like this expand really quickly.

“I don’t see any reason to change what I’m doing.”

Conners is of the same mind. He has finished third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, seventh in The Players Championship, tied for 14th in the Valero Texas Open and tied for eighth in last week’s Masters in the last six weeks.

He said he’s as confident about his game as he ever has been.

“Feel like I’m hitting my lines really well off the tee with irons and on the greens, so, yeah, I would say this is as well as I’ve felt about everything for sure,” Conners said. “A lot of positives. Giving myself lots of chances and was really nice to see some go in. Hopefully can keep that up going into the weekend.

“I’ve been playing really well and just trust my game and play with the confidence that I have, and good things are going to happen.”

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Stewart Cink settles into RBC Heritage lead amidst soothing vibe of Hilton Head Island

Stewart Cink hasn’t missed a chance to tee it up at Harbour Town Golf Links for 22 consecutive years.

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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – Stewart Cink has long treasured his journeys to this little spot in the world that hugs the Atlantic Ocean, an island paradise featuring a legendary lighthouse, charming ambiance, peaceful streets lined with an assortment of trees and miles of inviting beaches and bike trails.

All of which surrounds the gem named Harbour Town Golf Links, a challenging Pete Dye layout that tests one and all golfers without brutalizing them. The first time Cink toured Harbour Town, he won the 2000 MCI Classic, now known as the RBC Heritage. Added another win in 2004 and hasn’t missed a chance to tee it up here for 22 consecutive years.

“I feel so relaxed here,” Cink said. “I think it’s the vibe. Is it the week after the Masters vibe or is it the Hilton Head Island vibe? Maybe a little bit both. Coming after the grindhouse that Augusta National can be – especially this year, conditions were pretty tough – it’s nice to come here and relax a little bit, exhale.”

Well, he relaxed a bit too much ahead of his opening tee shot Thursday in the first round of the RBC Heritage, sending his golf ball deep into a lake guarding the 10th hole and making bogey. From there, however, Cink didn’t have another blemish on his card full of seven birdies and an eagle and grabbed the first-round lead with an 8-under-par 63 — his career low at Harbour Town.

RBC Heritage: Tee times, TV info | Yardage book | Fantasy picks

“It really was a very smooth round once I got past the obstacle of the first hole. It was probably one of the worst opening drives I ever hit in my life,” he said. “You’d think that’s a bad way to start, but in a way it’s a wake-up call. After playing in the Masters and being super focused and intense, to come here and be lazy on the first shot was kind of like a slap in the face and it got my attention.

“I was just so relaxed and lackadaisical on the shot that I just kind of didn’t really go through my normal preparation on the shot. Just completely went to sleep at the wheel. Then I really played very, very well the rest of the way.”

Quite a few players played well under overcast skies. Matt Wallace, who finished third in the Valero Texas Open two weeks ago and tied for 34th in last week’s Masters, shot a bogey-free 65 to stand in second among the early finishers.

Billy Horschel, Charles Howell III and Harold Varner III were at 66.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson finished with a 70.

“This week’s so much more relaxed than last,” Horschel said. “You’re just so excited to get to Augusta, can’t wait to play, and by maybe the middle of the week or after the first round, gosh, this place just drives me insane. It’s just one of those weeks where it drives you a little insane with the way the wind can be; the way they set it up. It just requires a lot from you as a golfer.

“So, it’s always nice to come over here after a stressful challenging week like it would be at any major.”

Hilton Head’s casual atmosphere even made an angry golfer smile. Wallace was one of several European Tour stars to take part in a hilarious video released earlier this year where they gathered together to attend an anger management therapy group to discuss their issues (Wallace has had problems with caddies).

Wallace had few issues in the first round and loves Hilton Head.

“I do like it here,” said Wallace, who added that the angry golfer video was brilliant, and the outtakes are even better. “My girlfriend has been coming here with her family for a really long time and it’s a special place. Really nice and chilled and we enjoy it.

“Tournament golf is not decompression (golf) for me. I am fully focused out there. But I like the vibe, the chilled vibe, and I like the trees. I mean, it’s pretty cool that you’ve got all the roads in between the trees and the shrubs, the dense growth.

“The golf course itself is nice as well. I like playing here. I’ve got a good handle of what I want to do on the golf course, and it showed today.”

With COVID-19 behind him, Webb Simpson back at full strength, shares Sony Open lead

The world No. 8, who tied for 17th in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, is at full strength after contracting COVID-19 around Christmas.

The chalk is writing a predicable script through two rounds of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Webb Simpson, a pre-tournament favorite and a winner of two events last season, birdied his final three holes Friday to fire his second consecutive 5-under-par 65 to move into a share of the lead midway through the second round of the Sony Open at windless Waialae Country Club.

The world No. 8, who tied for 17th in last week’s year-opening Sentry Tournament of Champions, is back at full strength after contracting COVID-19 around Christmas. The 2018 Players champion and 2012 U.S. Open victor has 12 birdies and two bogeys through 36 holes.

“Today wasn’t quite as sharp as yesterday,” said Simpson, who finished third and in a tie for fourth in his last two starts in the Sony. “Hit a ball in the water on 2. Didn’t hit quite as many fairways but managed really well. I think staying present this week has allowed me to kind of get through these frustrating moments.

Sony Open in Hawaii: Photo gallery | Leaderboard

“I birdied the last two holes yesterday and today I birdied the last three. I think being patient on this golf course is paying off for me. It’s one of those days where calm winds, you feel like you need to go shoot 7-, 8-, 9-under, and I was a couple under for a while there. So really happy with my finish and I thought if I can get it to double digits, I would be at least close to the lead going into Saturday.”

Simpson, who has 11 top-20 finishes in his last 14 starts, said earlier this week he’s as confident about his game as he ever has been. And it doesn’t hurt when you’re playing alongside Collin Morikawa and Marc Leishman, who each shot 65.

Sony Open in Hawaii
Webb Simpson (left) fist bumps Marc Leishman on the ninth hole during the second round of the Sony Open golf tournament at Waialae Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

“I think seeing good shots before you hit always kind of helps to frame the shot well and then seeing putts go in, you realize, OK, the holes are big enough for these balls to fit in,” Simpson said. “I love playing with those two guys. I’ve played a lot of golf with them. Collin made a lot of putts. Mark made a lot of putts. I made a lot of putts. That’s always nice knowing you don’t have to force birdies, but you put it in the right spot, you’re probably going to make some.”

Simpson was atop the crowded first page of the leaderboard.

Simpson shared the lead with Stewart Cink, who is continuing his resurgence with a 63 on Friday. Cink won the season-opening Safeway Open for his first title since his playoff victory against Tom Watson in the 2009 Open Championship.

Cink also finished in the top 12 two other times in the fall and has finished in the top 20 in his last six starts in the Sony Open.

“Today was a dream day for playing here at Waialae. It was almost no wind,” Cink said. “There was a little bit of moisture on the ground from last night, and it was just a day where you could really dial it in. You could really hit your spots instead of having to do the usual here which is trying to figure out how much wind is going to help or hurt the ball and crosswinds and all that.

“Today there was nothing out there.”

Morikawa, the reigning PGA champion, is in a large group at 9 under with Leishman. Hideki Matsuyama, who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since 2017, and Charley Hoffman, who hasn’t won since 2016, also each shot 65 to get to 9 under. Joaquin Niemann (69), who lost in a playoff last week in the Tournament of Champions, also moved to 9 under.

The Tank, K.J. Choi, has rolled up the leaderboard as he followed an opening-round 67 with a 65. Choi, who last won on the PGA Tour in the 2011 Players Championship and won the Sony Open in 2008, said he took advantage of the calm winds and an improving putter. Joining him at 8 under were Aaron Baddeley (68) and Daniel Berger (68).

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Stewart Cink is always looking for an edge. It got him back to the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Stewart Cink has always looked for an edge in his PGA Tour career. Statistics and a new caddie seem to be working in his favor.

There’s something to be said for seeing life through the eyes of your children. That will figure heavily into Stewart Cink’s livelihood this year as son Reagan Cink, a recent Georgia Tech graduate, continues to caddie for dad after their father-son partnership produced undeniable results last fall to the tune of a Safeway Open win and two other top-12 finishes.

That Cink, 47, is starting his year at Kapalua’s Plantation Course on Maui is a good indication of his resurgent PGA Tour career. He hasn’t played the winners-only event that traditionally starts the new year since 2010, when he appeared at Kapalua as the reigning British Open champion.

“It feels like a reward and you’re reminded of it constantly as soon as you look out there and see whales and look over to Molokai and it just feels a lot different,” Cink said of the setting.

Put another way, two renovations to the Plantation Course have taken place since Cink last competed here. But if it looks different to Cink, it looks brand new to his caddie. Reagan has walked many a Tour course, but “he’s never seen them from a strategy and playability type of a standpoint,” noted his dad.

Stewart Cink talks with his caddie and son Reagan on the 13th hole during the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort on September 12, 2020. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Cink, a 24-year Tour veteran, had all but stopped playing practice rounds, but he’ll build them back in so that Reagan can get the lay of the land. He’ll build in additional rest, too, to offset more time on the course early in the week.

It speaks to Cink’s age and experience that he even has a son old enough to caddie for him on Tour. There aren’t many other men in player dining with whom he can share that experience, but there’s always been a comfort in being on the road with family.

Now that his children are grown and with his wife Lisa often traveling with him, it’s really only the family dogs who are left behind. Asked to name his best Christmas gift, Cink went straight to the Furbo, an automatic dog feeder outfitted with a camera. The machine catapults treats through the air, something the dogs caught on to quickly.

“When the dogs get close to it, they send your phone a notification and you can kind of see the video and you can talk to them,” he said. “So that’s been fun because missing the dogs, being away from home, that’s part of the tough part of traveling.”

Cink is looking around as much as he ever has in his career. When he started out as a pro, Cink said he’d zero in on Curtis Strange, Paul Azinger and Tom Lehman, sitting with them at lunch to try to figure out what made them established champions.

To start this week at Kapalua, he played a practice round with Sungjae Im, who, at 22, is almost exactly one year younger than Cink’s youngest son. Cink and Im actually live in the same neighborhood in Atlanta, Im having just bought a house there. Still, it’s the first time they’ve played together.

There’s not much insight Im can give a guy like Cink in terms of how you make this life-on-the-road thing work, as Cink noted, but there’s certainly something there when it comes to ball striking.

“It really is like he’s not a human being when he hits the ball, he’s just so consistent and his strike is so pure every time and he’s just, he’s a master at ball striking,” Cink said. “So, but now the tables are turned where I don’t look for older guys, I’m now kind of like looking at the younger players and I’m just constantly trying to learn something from either age group.”

Past the kind of old-fashioned fact-finding Cink employed at the beginning of his career, the Tour’s strokes-gained statistic also has helped a guy like Cink figure out how to remain competitive late into his career. For Cink, it has debunked a theory he’s often heard that all the best players are attacking every flag. It helps him see where he might be losing strokes to like players.

“There’s a lot of noise too,” he said, “but you find out what’s relevant to you and you can really make a big change in the way you play and your decision making and it can add up to a few shots lower every week and that can be a really big deal.”

The formula may have changed over the years, most recently with the addition of his son on the bag, but Cink’s current one seems to be working just fine.

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Schupak: 2020 was stranger than the morning sky in Napa during the Safeway Open

Senior writer Adam Schupak chronicles the moments that made covering the golf scene in 2020 a year unlike any other.

Covering golf, at every level and on every tour, in 2020 was unlike anything our writers have experienced. Through the end of the year, our staff is looking back on what will forever stand out from the season of COVID – a season during which every aspect of the game we love was impacted by a global pandemic. Read the whole series here.

I was staying in a boutique hotel in Brussels after the 2018 Ryder Cup when I read a quote on, of all things, a Trip Advisor ad that spoke to me: “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

I looked it up and it’s attributed to Ibn Battuta, a 14th-century Moroccan explorer and scholar. Those are words I’ve very much lived by covering 20-plus tournaments a year for more than a decade, which have taken me to far-flung places such as Singapore, China, Turkey, Israel, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The list goes on but you get the idea.

All of that came to a screeching halt in March when the PGA Tour and the golf world in general went on hiatus due to a global pandemic. I never left the country this year and avoided flying, well, like the plague. I don’t know about you but I haven’t exercised at a gym, gone to the movies, shaken hands or seen most of my family members, other than via Zoom calls, since March.

Plenty of love for Jordan Spieth at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in late January before the pandemic prevented fan attendance at most PGA Tour events (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

But there were a few early-season trips before the world changed that provided stories worth telling, including to the desert for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. It seems a lifetime ago that 20,000 drunk people ringed the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale like the Romans at the Coliseum. The highlight of that week was a wide-ranging discussion with Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee that exploded into a three-part Q&A.

From there, it was on to Pebble Beach, and it doesn’t matter how many times I visit the Monterey Peninsula, it never gets old. The weather even cooperated. I got to break bread with some of my favorite folks that week and squeeze in 18 at Pacific Grove and take a test spin around TPC Harding Park. One evening, I was packing up my belongings from the media center and ready to hit up a sushi joint I discovered during the previous year’s U.S. Open visit, when a local writer that I had been chatting with at breakfast stopped by my desk and invited me over to his house to join his family’s dinner. That was an incredibly kind gesture. Traveling to exotic locales to play or watch golf doesn’t suck, but life on the road isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Having a good home-cooked meal and better conversation hit the spot and I appreciated it even more when the world soon after went into lockdown.

In the year 2020, even Donald Ross was wearing a mask (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

I flew the red eye home from California and I’ll never know for sure if I had coronavirus or just the run-of-the-mill flu but I was as sick as I’ve been for a long time the next two weeks and even had to WD from covering the Honda Classic with a high fever. This was pre-masks, hand sanitizers and runs on toilet paper. What a year!

The other meal I can’t help but think of is the annual Asado night at The Players, held on the eve of the tournament. It began at the Masters and was co-hosted by Spanish golfer Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and the Argentine Golf Association. I remember one year telling Gonzo, who wasn’t yet eligible for the Masters, that he needed to win and a lot of people were depending on him so we could have asado. He smiled and told me, don’t worry, we’ll do Asado night at the Players if I don’t make the Masters. And that’s been the tradition ever since.

Hideki Matsuyama tied the TPC Sawgrass course record only to have the Players canceled later that night due to the global pandemic (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

It is a gathering of two-dozen or so golf industry leaders from Latin America and elsewhere (including R&A chief Martin Slumbers and his wife) with R&A regional director of Latin America Mark Lawrie as grill master. Held at their oceanside rental property in Ponte Vedra under a tent, it’s become one of my favorite nights of the year – I think I’m still full from all the beef, Argentine wine and dulce de leche – but it became memorable as the last big dinner party I’ve attended. After the ceremonial drive of a few glow balls into the ocean, I drove home just shortly before 10 p.m. and was greeted with news that the Tour had come to its senses and canceled the Players. Not long after, the Masters was postponed and we’d endure a 91-day hiatus before another tournament round was contested. Remember how desperate we were for live competition that we were watching marble races?

During these uncertain times, golf was my salvation. Living in Florida, the courses remained open – though the beaches shut down for a while – and so Gary Koch would have declared my quarantine was better than most. With some extra time on my hands I decided now was the time to learn to hit a baby cut. I’d only been playing a boomerang draw – I prefer not to use that other four-letter word – for 40 years. Trying to overhaul my swing by digging it out of the dirt Hogan style has been an adventure. I remember bragging that I had it down pat but when I went to play Palatka Golf Club with colleagues Julie Williams and Jason Lusk, I kept hitting left of left. It reminded me of the old Bugs Bunny skit where the singing frog only lets out a ribbit in front of a crowd. If you don’t know that one, check it out below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsROL4Kf8QY

I recorded 75 18-hole scores in 2020, which doesn’t include some hit-n-giggle team events and that many of those rounds combined two evening nines. All told, I’m guessing I’m well over 100 days of golf this year. So, 2020 hasn’t been a total loss. My game is still fragile and for all the effort my handicap has gone down a whopping 0.4 strokes … but it didn’t go up this year, so I’ve got that going for me.

Camilo Villegas surprised members of the media with news that his daughter Mia had cancer during a tearful press conference (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

During the lockdown, I dove into the old Rolodex and did a series of Q&A’s (Quarantined and Answered) with some of my favorite talkers: David Duval, Sean Foley, Jim Furyk, Tony Jacklin, Vijay Singh, Charles Barkley, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. For all the Microsoft Teams and Zoom calls that helped us do our jobs, there’s no replacement for being present at a tournament and personal contact. So, I drove 12-plus hours with a pit stop at Sweetens Cove to cover the WGC St. Jude Invitational in Memphis and a Sunday duel between a resurgent Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas, who had Jim “Bones” Mackay fill in in on the bag and paired with one Phil Mickelson and brother Tim. Yeah, I missed that.

The importance of simply being there couldn’t have been more evident a few weeks earlier when Camilo Villegas broke into tears at the start of his press conference ahead of the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass as he detailed that his 18-month old daughter, Mia, was battling cancerous tumors in her brain. A little more than a month later her fight was over. I was in Jackson, Mississippi in October when Villegas sat down with me and opened his heart about dealing with loss and how it was his mission to make something good come from Mia’s death. This time, I was the one holding back tears. To hear him talk about seeing one of Mia’s beloved rainbows on the first tee at the RSM Classic and contend for the title until Sunday was almost too good to be true.

Lisa Cink congratulates son Reagan on a job well done on the bag for his father Stewart Cink after his victory at the Safeway Open in September (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

But there was another feel-good story in the fall season that delivered a full payoff. Seeing Stewart Cink end his 11-year victory drought at age 47, and with his son Reagan on the bag, gave me all the feels. I remember speaking to Cink after his wife, Lisa, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, and here she was cancer-free, a one-woman cheering section for her guys at a spectator-free tournament as Stewart showed he could still close on Sundays. Color me inspired and thank you, Stewart, for these words I’m going to try to live by in 2021: “I just try to squeeze every little bit of juice I can out of my golf game, out of that lemon.”

Let’s all make some lemonade in 2021 out of the lemon that was 2020.

My favorite photo of 2020: Tiger Woods enjoys some quality father-son time watching Charlie practice after the first round of the PNC Championship from the comfort of his golf bag (Adam Schupak/Golfweek).

The 2020-21 PGA Tour season is where winless streaks go to die. Who could be next to end victory drought?

Stewart Cink ended an 11-year winless streak at the Safeway Open and he’s not alone in getting off the schneid during the 2020-21 season.

That winning feeling never grows old.

Robert Streb, 33, was the most recent PGA Tour winner, nearly holing out his approach to win a playoff over Kevin Kisner at the RSM Classic at Sea Island Resort. It was his first victory in six years and 165 starts. … since the 2014 RSM Classic, or what was then known as the McGladrey Classic.

It continued a current trend of Tour winners finding the winner’s circle after a long dry spell.

Streb’s victory drought was nothing compared to Stewart Cink, who was ranked No. 319 in the world when he claimed the season opener at the Safeway Open. Cink was the first and Streb the latest of five players in the first nine tournaments of the wrap-around season who were ranked outside the top 300 in the world at the time of their victory and hadn’t tasted victory in several years.

For Cink it had been 11 long years since he had won the 2009 British Open, while Martin Laird and Brian Gay had waited seven years respectively between wins (Laird at the Shriners Hospitals to 2013 Valero Texas Open and Gay at the Bermuda Championship to 2013 Humana Challenge). That itch for victory can make the reward even more gratifying, even if the payoff for all the hard work took only half the time for Hudson Swafford, who won the Corales Puntacana Open (2017 American Express) and Sergio Garcia, Sanderson Farms (2017 Masters).

Stewart Cink celebrates with the trophy after winning the Safeway Open at Silverado Resort on September 13, 2020 in Napa, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

“We’re all so close out here,” Cink said. “If you just elevate a couple of little areas in your game and just get a little bit better, then you find yourself in contention or winning. If you go the other way, you find yourself on the outside of the cut or having a bunch of 50th-place finishes. It’s just that close.”

40-somethings

Early-season winners also feature the 40-something brigade. Garcia (40), Cink (47) and Gay (48) turning back the clocks could be just the inspiration these golfers need to get over the hump and hoist another trophy:

  • Lucas Glover (41), last win: 2011 Wells Fargo Championship
  • Luke Donald, (42), last win: 2012 Transitions Championship
  • Kevin Streelman (42), last win: 2014 Travelers Championship
  • Rory Sabbatini (44), last win: 2011 Honda Classic

“It would be huge,” Sabbatini said of what win No. 7 would mean to him at this stage in his career. “I’m in that dwindling stage of my career. To be out here and still be able to compete is something I’m very happy about.”

A quartet of late 30-somethings also are trying to knock on victory’s door again. Hunter Mahan (38), a six-time Tour winner who reached No. 4 in the world in April 2012, hasn’t won since the 2014 Barclays while Camilo Villegas (38), has suffered a similar drought (2014 Wyndham Championship) and would be the sentimental choice after losing his daughter to cancer in July.

Has it really been since the 2012 Barclays that Nick Watney (39) has KO’d a field? And yet his time without a victory is eclipsed in this week’s Mayakoba field by K.J. Choi (50 – 2011 Players Championship), Bo Van Pelt (45), whose only title was at the long-defunct 2009 U.S. Bank Championship, and D.J. Trahan (39), who won so long ago that Bob Hope’s name still adorned the tournament title: 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Martin Laird celebrates with the trophy after winning the Shriners Hospitals For Children Open at TPC Summerlin on October 11, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada to end his seven-year winless drought. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

What pro may have the best chance to get off the schneid this week at the Mayakoba Golf Classic?

How about Harris English (31), who will try to pull a Robert Streb and win at the same tournament he last won only seven years later to top Streb’s six-year wait. It was at the 2013 Mayakoba where English captured his second Tour title and the world seemed like his oyster. The only other player 25 years old or younger at the time with two Tour titles was Rory McIlroy. English, however, took a step back as he went through a myriad of swing instructors looking for a quick fix. He revived his career last year and recorded his fifth top-10 finish in the past 12 months at the RSM Classic (T-6) since finishing fifth at Mayakoba a year ago. He’s surged to No. 33 in the world, which is counter to the trend of world No. 300 and above winning, but all that’s left for him to achieve is that elusive victory.

“If I keep getting myself in these positions, it’s going to happen,” English said.

Maybe even this week and at the site of his last triumph.

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Stewart Cink hires son, Reagan, as permanent caddie ahead of RSM Classic

The 47-year-old Cink finished first-T12-T4 in his first three starts with son Reagan looping for him.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Stewart Cink made it official. Son Reagan, who was on the bag for his first victory in more than nine years at the Safeway Open in September, is permanently taking over his dad’s bag – at least for next 12 months, anyway.

This all began on a lark earlier this summer when Reagan, who has been living at home with his parents during COVID-19 after graduating from Georgia Tech to save money for his upcoming wedding, told his dad he’d like to caddie for him at an event.

“I said, ‘How about the Safeway?’” Stewart recalled.

He credited his son with being a calming influence, as at age 47, he shot a final-round 7-under 65 to win the tournament in Napa, California, by two strokes over Harry Higgs. It was the PGA Tour’s feel-good moment since the resumption of play in June.

A taste of success had Reagan happy to resume duties during the next event, the Sanderson Farms Championship, and they shot another Sunday 65 to finish T-12. But father knows best and Stewart suggested it was time for son to return to the real world and put his industrial engineering from Georgia Tech to work as a member of the technology product management team at Delta Airlines.

“He’s a great caddie, he’s doing a great job, but I don’t think I want him to become a caddie,” Stewart said at the time. “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.”

Stewart played the following week in Las Vegas and shot a final-round 81 to drop to T-64 with regular caddie, Kip Henley, on the bag. After a few weeks off, Reagan got the call to the bullpen to caddie at the Bermuda Championship and father and son teamed to finish T-4 with a Sunday 64. Stewart couldn’t ignore the results with his son on the bag.

“We didn’t have to leave until Monday so we were kind of sitting around the room with nothing to do. Reagan was there and he caddied, and my wife was there, all sitting around. Probably like sort of how nothing good happens with idle time and idle hands, we all sat around and said, ‘Hey, this has been really fun. You’re supposed to go back to work next week, but maybe this is the right time for you to push work back for a year. I like you caddying and I think you’re having a good time and you’re good at it, and it’s nice to spend time with our son,’” Stewart recalled.

“He got it worked out with Delta Airlines that he was going to be able to just sort of push his job back. He’ll go to work next year after he gets married in July and he’ll caddie the rest of this season. So, a change for us, but something I’m really looking forward to and I think he is, too.”

Father and son missed the cut at the Vivint Houston Open, but Stewart pointed out that it is more than mere coincidence that he’s played well with his son by his side. He’s contributed more than simply adhering to the caddie mantra of show up, keep up and shut up.

“He’s not just a guest caddie, he’s not just a family member out there carrying the bag. He understands golf really well and he understands me and he’s been a real asset to me in maybe like a little bit of an intangible kind of way,” Stewart said. “I just feel really calm out there with him. I know that when he’s standing across with the bag and after we’ve made our decision, I know that he has like full trust and 100 percent confidence that I’m going to be able to do what we just talked about doing.

“That’s just a big asset, to know that your caddie is just really behind you and believes in you and also has that sort of unconditional relationship with you that if it goes great, it goes great, if it doesn’t, then hey, we’re still father and son. I think that’s been a real big asset and it’s helped me to be calm and to be confident and really to just be myself.”

Stewart also noted that Reagan may give up the bag at some point to his older brother, Connor.

“We’ve already discussed that,” Stewart said. “I don’t know where it’s going to be yet, but he’ll come out and caddie.”

But this week at Sea Island, Stewart will look to add to his early-season haul with Reagan toting his bag. Asked what young player he’d suggest one of his boys try to caddie for to make a good living on Tour, Stewart said, “I don’t know that I would want either of my kids to be on the bag of any other player because they’re both too big of an asset. There’s enough disadvantage I have, I don’t want to give anybody else more advantage.”

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Stewart Cink & son taste some success at Sanderson Farms Championship

With his son Reagan on the bag, Stewart Cink records another top-10 finish in the 2020-21 Tour season at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

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.

Stewart Cink during the third round of the 2020 Sanderson Farms Championship at The Country Club of Jackson. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

“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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