Stewart Cink

Cink learned to play on a driving range before he was old enough for his parents to bring him to a golf course. He was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American (1993, '94, and '95) at Georgia Tech and was a husband and father by graduation. He earned his Korn Ferry Tour card at the end of 1995 and was Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year in 1996, winning three times.
1996 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 21; Rounds Played - 75; In Money - 18; Top -10 Finishes - 14; Scoring Average - 69.40 (rank 1st); Money - $251,699 (rank 1st); Best Finish: Won Ozarks Open, Colorado Classic, Tour Championship.
Was Rookie of the Year on the PGA Tour in 1997, winning the Canon Greater Hartford Open. He was the second rookie to exceed $800,000 in earnings (David Duval was the first). Owns eight PGA Tour victories. Member of 2002, '04, '06, '08 & '10 U.S. Ryder Cup Teams, and 2000, '07, and '09 Presidents Cup Teams. He ranked ninth in the Official World Golf Rankings after his 2009 British Open win.
2009 Notes: Won his first major championship title, the British Open, at Turnberry. He made a 12-foot birdie putt at the final hole of regulation, then took advantage of Tom Watson's missed eight-foot putt at his 72nd hole to overwhelm him in a four-hole playoff to win. Cink made two birdies and two pars in the playoff, while Watson made a par, two bogeys, and a double bogey. Cink finished with a 69 and a two-under-par 278 total for his sixth career victory. He posted a bogey-free 68 in the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational to finish T-6th. It was his fourth career bogey-free round at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone CC, tying Tiger Woods for the tournament's best mark. He finished T-19th at the Tour Championship in his eighth appearance at the event. He made the Presidents Cup team for the third consecutive time and fourth in his career. He finished 28th in the FedExCup standings and 17th on the money list.
2010 Notes: He turned in a career-low three top-10 finishes on his way to a 38th-place finish in the FedExCup standings. His 9th-place finish at the SBS Championship was six shots behind tournament winner Geoff Ogilvy. Cink's first three matches at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship went either 18 holes or extra holes before he lost in the quarterfinals, 5 and 4, to eventual runner-up Paul Casey. His T-5th finish followed a 3rd at Accenture in 2009 and a runner-up finish in 2008. Finished T-8th at the Memorial Tournament, his sixth top-10 in 15 career starts at Muirfield Village. In his fifth Ryder Cup appearance, he posted a 1-0-3 record and won 2.5 points in the United States' narrow loss. Only Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker (3 points each) earned more.
2011 Notes: Managed just one top-10 finish for the first time since joining the PGA Tour in 1997. He finished T-9th at the Wells Fargo Championship for just his fifth top-10 since winning the 2009 British Open. He was T-3rd entering the final round before a 74 ended his chance to win.
2012 Notes: Finished 139th in the FedExCup standings, failing to finish inside the top 100 for the first time in the FedExCup era. Other career firsts: He didn't have a top-10 finish and was 149th on the money list with earnings of $477,173, his first time out of the top-125 since becoming a member of the PGA Tour in 1997.
2013 Notes: Bounced back a bit with three top-10s: T-10th Humana Challenge, T-6 Shell Houston Open, and 5th at the AT&T National. He began the season at 323rd in the world ranking and climbed to 165th by season's end. Finished year 76th in the FedExCup standings and 78th on the money list, exceeding the $1-million mark for the first time since 2010.
2014 Notes: Made a solid 21 of 25 cuts but did not record a top-10 for the second time in the last three years. His best finish was T-11th at the CIMB Classic. He advanced to the second FedExCup Playoffs event near Boston with six top-25 finishes. He ended the season with a T-50th finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He held the first-round lead at the Farmers Insurance Open but finished T-28th after weekend rounds of 79-72. Last season of his five-year PGA Tour exemption for winning the 2009 British Open.
2015 Notes: Made the cut in 15 of 23 starts, collecting one top-10 finish. He advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs before a T-39th at The Barclays ended his season at No. 102 in the FedExCup standings. His best finish was T-5th at the RBC Canadian Open. He added a T-9th late in the year at the European Tour's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, thanks to a 65-69-67 effort over his final 54 holes in Scotland.
2016 Notes: A challenging year with his wife, Lisa, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in April. Took six weeks off. He played 19 events, making 11 cuts. His best finish was T-17th at the CIMB Classic. With the limited schedule, he finished 147th in the FedExCup standings and 162nd on the money list.
2017 Notes: Played 26 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts. He was in the top 10 three times, and his 53rd-place ranking in the FedExCup standings was his best showing since he finished 38th in 2010. Was T-10th at the RSM Classic and Dean & DeLuca Invitational. He was T-10th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic despite a final-round 73.
2018 Notes: Played in 25 events, making 18 cuts. He was in the top 10 three times and finished 73rd in the FedExCup standings. All of his top-10s came in the summer: T-4th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic; T-2nd two weeks later at the Travelers Championship (his best finish since his British Open win in 2009); and T-4th at the PGA Championship, five shots behind winner Brooks Koepka. During the last part of the season, he endured lower back pain, the first time in his career he had to deal with the problem.
2019 Notes: Played in 16 PGA Tour events making eight cuts with three top-25 finishes. Was 179th in the FedExCup rankings. He started his year with a T-13th at the CIMB Classic, it would be his best finish of the year. The good thing, his back got back to normal without pain.
2020 Notes: Played in 14 PGA Tour events with one top-ten finish, was 144th in the FedExCup standings. His best finish was T-9th at the Houston Open.
2021 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events making 19 cuts with three top-10 finishes. Was 26th in the FedExCup rankings. Cink went into the new season with some changes. First, his wife Lisa was cancer-free and able to travel with Cink, and his son Reagan agreed to come out and caddie for Dad. With all this, Cink's game came together at the first event of the season, the Safeway Open. With rounds of 67-70-65-65, he won by two over Harry Higgs for his seventh PGA Tour title and first since the British Open in 2009, a span of 4,074 days. At age 47 years, 115 days, he became the oldest winner on the PGA Tour at the time since Phil Mickelson's victory at the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He had another top-ten with a T-4th at the Bermuda Championship, three shots back of winner Brian Gay. Cink showed his great game again at the RBC Heritage and earned his eighth PGA Tour victory with a 4-shot victory. It was his 610th PGA Tour start at age 47 years, 10 months, and 28 days old. He opened the tournament with rounds of 63-63 and was the second-and third-round leader. Shot 70 in the final round to beat Emiliano Grillo and Harold Varner by four shots. Became the fourth player over the age of 47 to win multiple times in a season on the PGA Tour since 1960.
2022 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 13 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 126th in the FedExCup rankings. Shot four rounds in the 60s to finish T-7th at the Valspar Championship. Shot a final-round 65 to finish T-9th at the Wells Fargo Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
2023 Notes: Best finish T-21st at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He turned 50 the Sunday before the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, his first event for Seniors. Finished 3rd at the Senior PGA two shots back of the winner Steve Stricker.