Koepka clinches award

forces behind his extraordinary run of golf on the Mackenzie Tour Canada.

The Nease and University of Florida graduate has won three of his last four starts and has shot in the 60s in 22 of his last 24 rounds. With two tournaments left, McCumber has earned $135,700 and is $69,820 ahead of No. 2 Zach Wright on the Order of Merit.

Wright, George Cunningham and Michael Gellerman are the only players who can catch McCumber for the money

title, and they would have to win the

missed the cut in both.

That’s important because the Order of Merit winner is fully exempt onto the 2019 Web.com Tour, while Nos. 2 through 5 fall into line behind other priority categories.

current stretch of play. “I’ve had some good opportunities and I’m playing well enough to take advantage of them.”

McCumber said he has fully recovered from shoulder labrum surgery 18 months ago, meaning he’s been able to practice and train as much as he wants without pain.

He also cited swing coach Rick Smith and mental/physical trainer Brett “Moose” Stephens for making improvements.

Smith has helped McCumber reduce the frequency and direction of his misses and shoring up the short game and putting. Stephens, an Australian McCumber met last winter, has incorporated some old-

in sand dunes) with mental training that McCumber said has given him an approach that keeps him in the moment on each shot, without worrying about results.

One of Stephens’ clients in the past was tennis star Pete Sampras. He’s also worked with PGA Tour player Luke List.

McCumber said he’s in the process of writing to tournament directors of the PGA Tour’s fall events to request sponsor invitations. He also can attempt Monday qualifyings.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt,” when asked if his run on the Canadian Tour could have possibly gotten the attention of tournament directors. “I feel like I’m playing well enough to take advantage of the opportunities and show them I deserved it.”

round at Bellerive.

With huge galleries cheering Woods on every shot, Cink matched Woods’ 66.

“It felt like a Ryder Cup,” Cink said of the experience. “It was a great challenge, and I really wanted to embrace it and test myself and see how well I can hang in there. I didn’t have the option to fall back into a comfort zone. There wouldn’t have been one in that group. I’m proud of myself the way I played.”

Cink said he worked with swing coach Mike Lipnick on hitting the ball the way he envisioned during his pre-shot routine.

“I didn’t do anything new,” he said. “I just recommitted to what I was working on the last year.”

sportsmanship of Stewart, the three-time major champion who died in a plane crash on the Monday of the 1999 Tour Championship.

Cink was the award last year, and Jim Furyk of Ponte Vedra won it in 2016.

Langer has won the Masters twice, and added 37 victories and 10 majors on the PGA Tour Champions.

“Bernhard Langer epitomizes the ideals around which the Payne Stewart Award is built,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “Fueled by his strong faith and steadfast humility, Bernhard has become one of the great ambassadors for this game and continues to set an admirable example every time he tees it up.” Brooks Koepka has clinched the pointsbased award from the PGA of America as player of the year. Majors are worth 30 points, and there is a 50-point bonus for winning two of them. That gives Koepka 110 points for his U.S. Open and PGA Championship victories.

Even if Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas or Bubba Watson wins all four FedEx Cup playoff events for seven titles this year, they would not catch Koepka.