Stewart Cink

Stewart Ernest Cink (born May 21, 1973) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2009 Open Championship, defeating Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff. He spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking from 2004 to 2009, reaching a career best ranking of 5th in 2008.^[2][3]

Stewart Cink
Cink at the 2017 Valero Texas Open
Personal information
Full name	Stewart Ernest Cink
Born	(1973-05-21) May 21, 1973 (age 52) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Duluth, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse	Lisa Cink
Children	2
Career
College	Georgia Tech
Turned professional	1995
Current tour(s)	PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)	European Tour Nike Tour Hooters Tour
Professional wins	18
Highest ranking	5 (July 6, 2008)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	8
European Tour	2
Korn Ferry Tour	3
PGA Tour Champions	2
Other	5
Best results in major championships (wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	T3: 2008
PGA Championship	T3: 1999
U.S. Open	3rd: 2001
The Open Championship	Won: 2009
Achievements and awards
Haskins Award 1995 Nike Tour money list winner 1996 Nike Tour Player of the Year 1996 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year 1997 Payne Stewart Award 2017

Early years and education

Cink was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Florence, where he attended Bradshaw High School. After completing high school in 1991, he graduated from Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 1995 with a degree in Management, where he played golf for the Yellow Jackets; he turned professional in 1995.

Professional career

After winning the Mexican Open and three events on the Nike Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) in 1996, Cink joined the PGA Tour in 1997 and won the Canon Greater Hartford Open in his rookie season. Cink performed consistently on the Tour over the next few years, picking up another win at the 2000 MCI Classic.^[4] Cink contended in the 2001 U.S. Open, missing the playoff by a single stroke after making a double-bogey on the 72nd hole. In 2004, Cink finished in fifth-place on the money list and had wins at the MCI Heritage and at the WGC-NEC Invitational, which is one of the World Golf Championships events.

On February 24, 2008, Cink was the runner-up in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship played in Marana, Arizona, falling 8 & 7 in the 36-hole final to top-ranked Tiger Woods. In June 2008, he reached his highest ever ranking, sixth, in the Official World Golf Rankings with his victory at the Travelers Championship in suburban Hartford.^[5]

On July 19, 2009, Cink won his first major title at the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry, Scotland, defeating 59-year-old, five-time champion Tom Watson by six strokes in a four-hole playoff. Cink had birdied the 72nd hole while Watson bogeyed, which forced the playoff.^[6]

On September 13, 2020, Cink won the Safeway Open for his first win since the 2009 Open Championship.^[7]

On April 18, 2021, Cink won the RBC Heritage for the third time. He became the fourth player to win twice in the same PGA Tour season after turning 47, the others being Sam Snead, Julius Boros and Kenny Perry (who did it two times). Cink broke the lowest 36-hole score and 54-hole score record for the tournament.^[8]

Personal life

Cink and his wife, Lisa, have two sons, Connor and Reagan. Cink is a Christian.^[9][10]

Professional wins (18)

PGA Tour wins (8)

Legend
Major championships (1)
World Golf Championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (6)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jul 27, 1997	Canon Greater Hartford Open	−13 (69-67-65-66=267)	1 stroke	Tom Byrum, Brandel Chamblee, Jeff Maggert
2	Apr 16, 2000	MCI Classic	−14 (71-68-66-65=270)	2 strokes	Tom Lehman
3	Apr 18, 2004	MCI Heritage (2)	−10 (72-69-69-64=274)	Playoff	Ted Purdy
4	Aug 22, 2004	WGC-NEC Invitational	−11 (63-68-68-70=269)	4 strokes	Rory Sabbatini, Tiger Woods
5	Jun 22, 2008	Travelers Championship (2)	−18 (66-64-65-67=262)	1 stroke	Tommy Armour III, Hunter Mahan
6	Jul 19, 2009	The Open Championship	−2 (66-72-71-69=278)	Playoff	Tom Watson
7	Sep 13, 2020	Safeway Open	−21 (67-70-65-65=267)	2 strokes	Harry Higgs
8	Apr 18, 2021	RBC Heritage (3)	−19 (63-63-69-70=265)	4 strokes	Emiliano Grillo, Harold Varner III

PGA Tour playoff record (2–2)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1998	Canon Greater Hartford Open	Olin Browne, Larry Mize	Browne won with birdie on first extra hole
2	2004	MCI Heritage	Ted Purdy	Won with birdie on fifth extra hole
3	2006	WGC-Bridgestone Invitational	Tiger Woods	Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole
4	2009	The Open Championship	Tom Watson	Won four-hole aggregate playoff; Cink: −2 (4-3-4-3=14), Watson: +4 (5-3-7-5=20)

Nike Tour wins (3)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other Nike Tour (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jun 23, 1996	Nike Ozarks Open	−16 (68-67-69-68=272)	Playoff	R. W. Eaks
2	Sep 8, 1996	Nike Colorado Classic	−16 (67-68-67-66=268)	1 stroke	David Berganio Jr., Michael Christie
3	Oct 20, 1996	Nike Tour Championship	−7 (66-71-71-73=281)	4 strokes	David Berganio Jr.

Nike Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1996	Nike San Jose Open	Bobby Elliott, Larry Silveira	Silveira won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1996	Nike Ozarks Open	R. W. Eaks	Won with birdie on third extra hole

Hooters Tour wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	Oct 29, 1995	Naturally Fresh Cup	−13 (69-68-68-70=275)	6 strokes	Deane Pappas, Mike Swartz

Latin American wins (2)

• 1996 Mexican Open
• 1999 Mexican Open

Other wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runners-up
1	Jun 19, 2007	CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with J. J. Henry)	−20 (60-62=122)	1 stroke	Brad Faxon and Zach Johnson
2	Dec 15, 2013	PNC Father-Son Challenge (with son Connor Cink)	−22 (61-61=122)	3 strokes	Steve Elkington and son Sam Elkington, Vijay Singh and son Qass Singh

Other playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2002	CVS Charity Classic (with David Toms)	Chris DiMarco and Dudley Hart	Lost to birdie on third extra hole

PGA Tour Champions wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Aug 25, 2024	The Ally Challenge	−17 (67-66-66=199)	4 strokes	K. J. Choi
2	May 4, 2025	Insperity Invitational	−11 (71-66-68=205)	Playoff	Retief Goosen

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent	Result
1	2025	Insperity Invitational	Retief Goosen	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
2009	The Open Championship	3 shot deficit	−2 (66-72-71-69=278)	Playoff1	Tom Watson

¹Defeated Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff; Cink (4-3-4-3=14), Watson (5-3-7-5=20).

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament		CUT	T23	T27
U.S. Open	T16	T13	T10	T32
The Open Championship			T66	CUT
PGA Championship		CUT	CUT	T3

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Masters Tournament	T28	CUT	T24		T17	T20	10	T17	T3	CUT
U.S. Open	T8	3	CUT	T28	CUT	T15	T37	CUT	T14	T27
The Open Championship	T41	T30	T59	T34	T14	CUT	CUT	T6	CUT	1
PGA Championship	T15	T59	T10	CUT	T17	T28	T24	T32	CUT	T67

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Masters Tournament	CUT	CUT	T50	T25	T14
U.S. Open	T40	CUT	CUT	CUT	T54			T46
The Open Championship	T48	T30	CUT	T26	T47	T20		CUT	T24
PGA Championship	T18	CUT	CUT	CUT	CUT				T4

Tournament	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Masters Tournament	CUT		T12	CUT
PGA Championship			T30	T23
U.S. Open			T57	CUT	CUT
The Open Championship	T20	NT	CUT	CUT	T23	CUT	CUT

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	1	1	2	10	20	13
PGA Championship	0	0	1	2	3	7	21	13
U.S. Open	0	0	1	1	3	7	23	15
The Open Championship	1	0	0	1	2	7	26	16
Totals	1	0	3	5	10	31	90	57

• Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1999 Masters – 2000 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (ten times)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
The Players Championship	T42	CUT	T33	CUT	CUT	T39	T22	T32	CUT	T3	T21	T76

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
The Players Championship	CUT	T19	T64	CUT	T38	CUT			CUT	CUT

Tournament	2020	2021	2022	2023
The Players Championship	C	CUT	CUT	CUT

  Top 10

  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
2004	WGC-NEC Invitational	5 shot lead	−11 (63-68-68-70=269)	4 strokes	Rory Sabbatini, Tiger Woods

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Championship	T4		NT1			T23	T46	T13	T45	T20	T59	T37
Match Play	R16	R64	R64	R64		R32	QF	R64	R16	2	3	QF	R32
Invitational		7	T13	T47	T61	1	T41	2	T56	T43	T6	T19	T45
Champions											T51

Tournament	2020	2021
Championship
Match Play	NT2
Invitational		T43
Champions	NT2	NT2

¹Canceled due to 9/11
²Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Win

  Top 10

  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Presidents Cup: 2000 (winners), 2005 (winners), 2007 (winners), 2009 (winners)
• Ryder Cup: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 (winners), 2010
• WGC-World Cup: 2005, 2006
• Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 2006 (winners), 2008, 2009

See also

• 1996 Nike Tour graduates
• List of male golfers