Jul 27, 2024; Blaine, Minnesota, USA; Stewart Cink hits his tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports Stewart Cink shot a 6-under-par 66 and ran away with the Ally Challenge for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions on Sunday in Grand Blanc, Mich.
The highlights of Cink’s bogey-free round included a lengthy downhill birdie putt at No. 5 and three short birdie putts on the back nine (Nos. 11, 13 and 16) at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club. Cink played the final 36 holes of the tournament without a bogey.
After starting the day with a three-shot lead, Cink finished the tournament 17-under 199, four strokes ahead of South Korea’s K.J. Choi (final-round 67).
Cink, 51, made his PGA Tour Champions debut in May 2023 after he turned 50. He captured his first title in his 10th start on the 50-and-older circuit.
“It’s nice to be one of the younger players for a change and be able to use some power,” Cink told the Golf Channel broadcast, “and (I) still can hit it pretty far, and the golf course was giving up some rolls.”
In March, Cink led the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona, after each of the first two rounds but fell to a T7 finish after a final-round 73.
“I’m not gonna lie: I definitely had the memories from Tucson earlier this year. I think any human being would,” Cink said. “But I was really proud of myself, the way I stayed in the present. I stuck to my game plan. This course — it can be had, but you need to be in play and that’s a key on this golf course and I did a really great job on that.”
Cink has won on the PGA Tour as recently as April 2021, but he said he will focus more on the Champions Tour moving forward.
“I love playing on the PGA Tour. It’s been an awesome career and I won’t completely stop, but I feel at home and comfortable playing PGA Tour Champions golf mostly going forward, I believe,” Cink said.
Canadian Mike Weir shot the round of the day — an 8-under-par 64 with an opening eagle and six birdies — to rocket into third place at 12 under.
“I made a nice putt on 17 from about 25 feet. Outside of that, there were a couple 12-footers and a bunch of tap-ins,” Weir said. “Had a lot of chances, a lot, a lot of chances. Fun to have a round like that. They don’t come around very often like that.”
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke (67) placed fourth at 10 under. David Duval and Germany’s Bernhard Langer each fired rounds of 65 and finished in a five-way tie for fifth at 9 under with Bob Estes (70), David Branshaw (71) and Australian Steve Allan (71).
–Field Level Media
