With the 'circus' behind him, Stewart Cink goes low at PGA Tour Champions major
With the 'circus' behind him, Stewart Cink goes low at PGA Tour Champions major
With the Regions Championship — the first major of the PGA Tour Champions season — being contested during the same week as the PGA Championship, the spotlight won't likely shine as brightly on the seniors as they compete at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.
But that's just fine with Stewart Cink, who got his fill of media attention and galleries on Wednesday during the event's pro-am when he was paired with none other than former NBA star Charles Barkley and legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban.
"It was a blast, "Cink said on Thursday. "We had a circus atmosphere out there for a Wednesday pro-am. The crowd out here, I mean, I'm pretty sure football is the biggest sport in Alabama, I'll just say that I think with confidence. I've been around those guys a little bit before, but to get a chance to play with both of those guys in the pro-am and the other two guys from the bank, we had a good time.
"It was a really cool experience and I hope they had a good time playing with me. I sure did enjoy it."
More: Stewart Cink commits to playing PGA Tour Champions in 2025
With the pressure off on Thursday, Cink used a scorching back nine to post a 7-under-par 65 that put him just two shots behind leader Richard Green. Cink made the turn in a pedestrian 35, but went five under on the first four holes of the back, following up three birdies with an eagle on the par-5 13th hole.
"I didn't realize I shot 30 own the back, so thanks for letting me know," he joked with reporters. "I actually got some momentum with one of those downhill hard breakers for birdie to kind of open my birdie day up on 7, so starting there, I had a little bit of momentum. I made some nice short to medium putts on 10, 11, 12 and 13. The greens are amazing and if you get it online, your ball's going in the hole.
"It's going to come down to a putting contest out here because I believe we're probably going to be lift, clean and place I would think in the fairways, and they're receptive. You've got to keep the ball rolling on the greens. The field just won't slow down, they'll keep on making birdies."
Cink certainly has a positive mindset, coming off a victory at the Insperity Invitational in Houston two weeks ago, but he knows the field is strong, as seven World Golf Hall of Famers are in the field.
But he also knows it's easy to get complacent and he's determined to avoid that.
"Every tournament's like a new beginning, we start again. No, it feels great and there's some memories fresh from getting a win there, but it's not like you can go out there and just sleepwalk your way to winning. You've still got to do the right things," he said. "There's a reason we got a win in Houston and the reasons are what we have to keep doing here and forward and we'll hopefully pick up some more wins.
"But there's no guarantee, we don't see it like that."
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