Cink strolls in RBC Heritage
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – With his wife of nearly 30 years walking all 18 holes outside the gallery ropes for some time now and one of their two sons in step with him inside the ropes as his caddie, Stewart Cink has been living the good life.
This traveling family affair has led to a rebirth in Cink’s game, and his revival continued Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links as he marched to a four-shot victory in the RBC Heritage, wife Lisa watching every shot and son Reagan helping on every shot. Also on hand was son Connor, who traveled overnight from Wyoming to be on hand for the final 18 holes.
After rushing out to a five-shot, 36hole lead with two 63s to set the halfway record low total for the tournament, Cink held his pursuers at bay on the weekend and polished off his eighth PGA Tour title with a closing 1-underpar 70 to finish at 19 under. It was his third win here, the first two in 2000 and 2004.
After a 69 in the third round – which set the 54-hole scoring mark of 195 – Cink, 47, was never seriously threatened. Only Harold Varner III, with a birdie at the last hole, and Emiliano Grillo, with a chip-in birdie on the 16th, got within three shots of Cink in the final round.
“What a week,” Cink said as he hugged Reagan on the 18th green. A few minutes later he said he didn’t know if he had the words to express his joy.
“It just keeps getting better. It was just so great to have the whole family here. It means so much to me,” Cink said. “It was a blast this week. I just can’t explain it.”
“It’s an amazing blessing,” Lisa added. “What’s so amazing is this kind of rebirth that Stewart is experiencing and at such an older age. I’m just in awe of how well he’s playing at this time in his career, and it just seems like icing on the cake.”
Varner shot 66 and Grillo 68 to finish at 15 under and in a tie for second. It was Varner’s best finish on the PGA Tour.
“He’s old and he’s kicking everyone’s ass,” Varner said of Cink. “It inspires me. It inspires me to know that I can play golf for a long time. He’s been playing well all year, though, so it’s not like I’m surprised. But this week he’s played unbelievable.”
Maverick McNealy (67), Matt Fitzpatrick (68) and Corey Conners (68) finished at 13 under. It was Conners’ fourth top-10 finish in his last six starts.
Reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa – who was born the same year Cink won his first PGA Tour title in 1997 – struggled in the final group paired with Cink. After a first-hole birdie, Morikawa made three bogeys to fall back and shot 72 to finish in a tie for seventh with Chris Kirk (67) at 12 under.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson finished his uneven week with his best round, a 66, to finish at 10 under and in a tie for 13th. He once again struggled with his putting and used a different putter in the final round.
“I feel like I haven’t putted really well for the last few weeks,” said Johnson, who has now gone six tournaments without a top-10. He said he’ll play next in two weeks in the Valspar Championship. “I kept with it, kept practicing, kept grinding, but it wasn’t really getting any better, so sometimes it’s just time for a change.”
Cink rarely struggled as he joined Bryson DeChambeau as the only players with two wins this season. Cink had Reagan on the bag when he won the season-opening Safeway Open – his first victory since capturing the Claret Jug in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry.
The two started working when Cink was outside the top 300 in the official world rankings; he’ll move into the mid-40s with the win.
And in his 610th start on the PGA Tour, Cink joined Julius Boros, Sam Snead and Kenny Perry (twice) as the only players since 1960 to win multiple Tour events in a season at 47 or older.