Stewart Cink, the Unlikely 2009 British Open Champ, In Better Form to Chase Another

The 49-year-old said he's driving the ball better than ever and nowhere is his love for links golf stronger than at St. Andrews.

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Stewart Cink was an unlikely British Open winner when he broke up the fairy tale story of a 59-year-old Tom Watson capturing his sixth claret jug at Turnberry.

Cink, 36 when he captured his only major championship, has not been back to Turnberry since, but he still remembers the playoff win.

“You think about milestones in your life, and like that seems like so long ago,” Cink said of his victory. “The memories are still fresh, but I feel like that was in the middle of my career. And I feel like I'm like towards the end of my career now.”

Stewart Cink won the RBC Heritage last year and is still playing at a high level at age 49 / USA Today

The most vivid of memories for Cink, now 49, was when he tapped in for birdie on the last hole of the four-hole playoff. The result was already settled as Watson’s age and adrenaline was a factor after missing out on a win with a bogey on the 72nd hole; he didn't have four more holes in him.

The two shook hands and Cink became a bit of a reluctant winner, with the entire fan base hoping for Watson to turn back the clock.

The memory of the tap-in seemed like just yesterday for Cink, who has not come close to winning a second claret jug.

Since his win in 2009, Cink has played in 10 Open Championships with his best result a T20 in 2015 at the Old Course and 2019 at Royal Portrush.

“I think learning how to win one doesn't make any kind of certainty about you winning another one is the fields are deeper every major we play,” Cink said. “And so it's just harder and harder to be the guy that comes out on top.”

Cink never thought he would be a proficient links player, but in 1998 he made the cut in his first Open at Royal Birkdale and when he finished, his caddie for the week — Paul Stevens, who was on the bag for his T13 the week before at the Scottish Open — told Cink he thought he would win an Open.

“I can see it in your game,” Stevens said.

And Cink’s response? “You’re crazy.”

Cink is not the type of person to see what Stevens saw in him those two weeks. He’s never been that world-beater and even when he was a kid, he never thought he was PGA Tour-bound.

“I've always thought, if anything, I have like a little bit of a deficiency or a lack,” Cink said. “And I need to work to kind of like make up the ground. So, when he (Stevens) told me that I was kind of whatever, I don't know what you see.”

Notwithstanding his win, Cink’s lack of success has not deterred him, on the contrary he is intrigued with links golf and believes his major reason for lack of success has been more poor driving than the foibles of the links.

“It’s like a puzzle and a struggle,” Cink said. “I don't feel like it's really hard for me to visualize the shots and to predict what they're going to do. But it's hard to execute the shots.”

Cink said the turf can confound him at times and in the U.S. he is so dialed in with his distances that he can carry shots and make them stop. On links courses it's a little harder to carry exactly where you want it, and it's less relevant, making it a mental adjustment.

“It's windy, different kind of grass, that rough, bounces are different, so I have an affinity for it,” Cink said. “I really have a lot of respect for all these things. And we can go five miles down the street there and play a course almost nobody's ever heard of. And it's like one of the best experiences of your life because it's just so pure. The shots are so cool. And I love that part of links golf, whether it's Open Championship, or you know, just a little local course in your town.”

After a tie for 25th at the Scottish Open on Sunday, Cink is coming to one of those local courses to play in the 150th edition of The Open.

The Old Course is Cink’s favorite in the rota.

“If the pin's on the left it makes you go down the right side of the fairway, where all the trouble is, just like pure philosophy of golf,” Cink said. “I love that.”

The age of the Old Course and the fact that it has served as a template for so many courses and holes designed both in Scotland and around the world makes it special in Cink’s eyes.

“It's all about how much risk you want to take on, how bold do you want to be, almost every shot out there. It gives you that option,” Cink said. “And it makes you have to make that decision. And I think that's a part of golf that only links courses really offer.”

Cink now comes to the Old Course not on a mission, but knowing he is playing well, had a relatively successful tuneup at the Scottish Open and now needs to put his best foot forward.

He believes it was his driving that cost him in past Open Championships, 2009 excepted, but that was then and this is now.

“I'm actually a better driver than I've ever been in my life now,”
Cink said. “I have the creativity, I know I can predict the way the shots around the greens are gonna play and my speed control putting from long distance off the green. But it's just off the tee I think is what really has kind of held me back.”