Outlasts Retief Goosen in playoff
This time, it was Stewart Cink that prevailed against Retief Goosen.
Sure, the stakes weren’t quite as high as their final-round showdown back in 2001 when Cink three-putted on the 72nd hole at Southern Hills to miss getting into a playoff at the U.S. Open Championship.
Goosen went on to win his first of two U.S. Open titles in a playoff over Mark Brooks the next day, denying Cink of a major championship.
On Sunday at the PGA Tour Champions Insperity Invitational, Cink bested Goosen on the first hole of a playoff to gain a measure of revenge from that U.S. Open heartbreak. Cink did it in style by making a birdie on the 18th hole at The Woodlands Country Club in Texas to gain his second win on the senior circuit.
The victory was worth $450,000 and vaulted the former Florence resident into fourth place on the Charles Schwab Cup points list.
“You know, every experience coming down the stretch in professional golf is like case one of one,” Cink said. “I wish I could say that I just, like, learned so much about being in the hunt and, you know, failures and successes. But I can’t say that, because every time it feels like a new animal.”
Cink, who started the day two shots off the pace being set by Mike Weir and Goosen, shot 68 to finish at 11-under. He birdied two of the final four holes to get in the clubhouse at 11-under, including a 20-footer on the difficult 17th hole that resulted in a fist pump from the normally reserved Cink.
“I hit a good ball off the tee,” he said. “You know, the hole is very tee-ball centric. And then I did yank my second shot just a little trying to be maybe a little too aggressive there but ended up in a pretty good place. And I actually felt like that ball was very makeable, you know, relative to the 20 or so feet it was from the hole. It just had a look about it.”
Cink admitted he thought about his celebratory fist pump before making it.
“I kind of rehearsed a little bit of fist pump there, admittedly, and kind of like went through it in my head before,” he said. “And when the ball got in the hole, I’m like, “I’m doing the fist pump.” So I kind of let something out that you don’t see much out of Stewart Cink.”
After the birdie, he had a difficult up-and-down on the 18th hole from near the grandstand to save par. Then it was a waiting game to see if there would be a playoff.
Miguel Angel Jimenez came to the final hole tied for the lead but three-putted from the back of the green to fall one shot short. Goosen missed a birdie from 20 feet that would have won it. Instead, he and Cink headed back to the 18th tee for the playoff.
Both players found the fairway off the tee but Goosen flared his 6-iron approach into the greenside water. Cink laced a 7-iron to within 10 feet and made the winning putt.
“I’ve been playing fairly solidly, and I just think it was all about just trusting all the way through the finish line,” Cink said. “You know, golf is just not easy. But I have a blast out there, you know, fighting, falling back. Sometimes it feels like feast or famine, but it’s a great game. I love it. Today was a blast. Me and Chris Jones, my caddie, had a good thing going, as we always do. But I executed pretty well, for the most part. And when I didn’t, I fought really hard. And I was really proud of
the way I just hung in there all the way through the, you know, 55th hole.”
Cink’s next tournament will be at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham May 15-18 where he’ll be making his second appearance.
“Just being in the hunt and winning on PGA Tour Champions is a real blast,” he said. “And I feel blessed and fortunate to be able to do it against some classy characters. So I’m planning to play a full schedule.”
Featured image of Stewart Cink courtesy of the PGA Tour Champions
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