It’s a family affair as Stewart Cink surges to Safeway Open win
There was a moment late Sunday afternoon, on the back nine of the North Course at Silverado Resort and Spa, in the final round of the Safeway Open, when Stewart Cink was trying to get his wife, Lisa’s attention. It was on the par-4, 14th, a hole framed by the backdrop of a scenic mountain range, with Stewart Cink walking down the fairway, going about his business and leading the tournament by one shot.
It was a moment filled with emotion, as Stewart took time to talk, just briefly, with Lisa, who was looking on. Their son, Reagan Cink, was on the bag as Stewart’s caddie.
“I walked over to the side of the ropes after 14 and I grabbed Lisa by the arm and I just told her how grateful I was at that moment. I just was feeling this great sense of gratitude. I always try really hard to keep my heart in the right place when I’m competing — that’s just one of my main goals,” Stewart said.
“Just kind of overcame me there for a second.”
Not long after that moment, Stewart Cink completed his round, shooting a 7-under-par 65 and winning the $6.6 million Safeway Open, the season opening event on the PGA Tour’s 2020–21 schedule that is presented by Chevron. His only blemish of the day was a bogey, the result of a three-putt, on the par-4 17th hole.
He was firm and steady, making four birdies on the back side and holding off a number of other players, including Harry Higgs, the runner-up, who finished two strokes off the lead.
Cink had back-to-back birdies, on Nos. 15 and 16.
“I’m just so thankful, so grateful that I was in this position and able to bring home another PGA Tour event,” said Cink, who makes his home in Duluth, Georgia.
“I’m still working like crazy to try to be the best golfer I can be, but there was probably a time where I felt like maybe age might have caught up with me and maybe I might have had my last win out here. But I wasn’t ready to concede that. I just knew that if I got back into position again, that if the time’s right, I can hang in there. That’s what it really is all about.”
Cink got off to a good start, with four birdies on the front nine.
He birdied the par-5 18th hole, culminating a day on the par-72, 7,166-yard North Course in which he hit 11 of 14 fairways in regulation, 13 of 18 greens and was 5 of 5 scrambling, pouring in 26 putts.
The Safeway Open is the first of 50 official FedExCup tournaments on Tour.
“I hit a lot of really good ones. I think maybe even more importantly, the one I really hit bad was my second shot on 17 and I didn’t let it rattle me,” said Cink. “Then I go and three-putt. That’s not like what a champion does, but a champion does get back up off the mat when he gets knocked down and I got knocked down a little bit there. I completely botched that hole from a perfect drive. There have been times in my career where I probably would have let that rattle me, but today I just was resolute.
“Standing on the 18th tee, I was going to bomb the cover off that ball and get to the green and I was going to make a 4. There’s no two ways about it. So I was really proud of that moment.”
Cink set a tournament scoring record — 21-under 267 total for the week, breaking Brendan Steele’s mark of 18-under during the 2016 Safeway Open. He receives a first-place check for $1.18 million and 500 FedExCup points.
Cink said it’s some of the best golf he has played in his career.
“It’s been a while since I really played well for four rounds, and even here the second round I was not exactly outstanding, but I really played great over the weekend. I was clear headed and calm and that’s an area where I kind of have struggled over the years,” he said.
One of the highlights to his round was the chip-in birdie on the par-3, 11th hole from 20 feet, 3 inches.
“This whole week has been really great,” he said. “I can’t really overstate how important Reagan’s been as a caddie, too. He’s not just a ceremonial caddie out here. He did a great job with me, keeping me in the present and he did a great job getting all the yardages and he helped with clubs. He understands golf to the very, very highest level. It was really a great experience.”
It’s Cink’s first title since his win in 2009 at The Open Championship, when he beat Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff — a period of 11 years. At 47 years old, he also becomes the oldest winner on Tour since Phil Mickelson at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2019.
“It is the culmination of so many things,” Lisa Cink said. “It’s so special to have Reagan and Stewart do this together. I’ve watched him work so hard for so many years without the results, so for those to show up now is just an amazing blessing.
“It just felt like there was something special this week.”
It’s Stewart Cink’s seventh PGA Tour victory and his 100th Top-10 finish during a career that began when he joined the Tour in 1997.
He was on the Napa leaderboard from the get-go, opening with a 67, followed by 70 in the second round and a 65 in the third round, putting him in a tie for seventh, just two shots off the lead.
“I definitely had a lot of emotions out there today,” said Cink. “I just was overcome a few times with a feeling of gratitude and just feeling like how fortunate I am to be in the position that I’m in.
“Somehow, I was able to also focus when I needed to. So I had a little mix and it was the right mix for me today because I did hit a lot of good shots — a ton of great shots when I needed to.”
The win does a lot for Cink, as he is now fully exempt through the 2022–23 season and he earns a spot in the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions, 2021 Players Championship, 2021 Masters Tournament, and 2021 PGA Championship.
“Well, when you get 47 like I am, you just don’t really know if you’re ever going to be able to close the door on another one, but at times I’ve been in the position to get it done and haven’t,” he said. “This was just a really special week where I had a lot of good things going with my golf.
“Like Reagan said walking out №2 today: ‘Dad, your tangibles are really, really good right now, like the set of clubs we’re playing with, the ball, everything. The tangibles are really good.’ That’s great advice for a kid who’s 23 years old and caddying in only his fourth PGA Tour event.
“Reagan’s a great kid to be around. He knows the game in and out, like a PGA Tour player himself. He did a great job keeping me positive and keeping me loose out there. We just had a really great time from the get-go all week, all seven days we were here.”
It was a family affair, indeed, for the Cinks, with Stewart and Reagan working inside the ropes, and Lisa watching from nearby.
Higgs eagled the par-5 16th hole, closing with a 68 and finishing at 19-under and alone in second.
Tying for third, at 18-under, was Doc Redman (62), Chez Reavie (66), Kevin Streelman (67) and Brian Stuard (70).
Sam Burns (70) and Kristoffer Ventura (70) tied for seventh at 17-under.
There was five-way tie for ninth, with J.J. Spaun (68), Pat Perez (69), Akshay Bhatia (68), Russell Knox (70) and James Hahn (72) all at 16-under.
Cink was joined during a trophy presentation by Johnny Miller, the tournament host who is a World Golf Hall of Fame member and one of Silverado’s owners; John Evans, Silverado’s Managing Director/General Manager; Cliff Riggsbee, from Safeway; Don Walker, from Chevron, and Jeff Sanders and Matt McEvoy of SportFive, the company that produces the Safeway Open.
“This is a really special place. I love being in Napa and I just had a really phenomenal time this week,” said Cink, who has played on five Ryder Cup and four Presidents Cup teams. “And on top of that, my golf ball was pretty agreeable most of the way, so it was a really great experience top to bottom all week.
“I had a lot of good sort of vibes. It just felt like the right place for me to be up near the top of the leaderboard. Then when it came time for me to kind of wrestle the bull to the ground, we were able to keep our composure, and get the job done.
“I’m proud to be representing Safeway Open now for this year, and to do it with Reagan on the bag.”
It was a big week also for Reagan Cink, 23, who graduated from Georgia Tech this past spring as an industrial engineer major.
“It was so unbelievably fun. I’ve watched him play for so long. I’ve gotten to caddie, but I hadn’t gotten in the mix of really seeing him in those serious moments. Being able to be a part of that, it was so special for me.”
