HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — With his wife of nearly 30 years walking all 18 holes outside the gallery ropes for some time now and one of their two sons in step with him inside the ropes as his caddie, Stewart Cink has been living the good life.
This traveling family affair has led to a rebirth in Cink’s game, and his revival continued on Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links as he marched to a 4-shot victory in the RBC Heritage, his wife, Lisa, watching every shot and his son, Reagan, helping on every shot. Also on hand was son Connor, who traveled overnight to be on hand for the final 18.
After rushing out to a 5-shot, 36-hole lead with a pair of 63s to set the halfway record low total for the tournament, Cink held his pursuers at bay on the weekend and polished off his eighth PGA Tour title with a closing 1-under-par 70 to finish at 19 under. It was his third win here, the first two coming in 2000 and 2004.
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After a 69 in the third round – which set the 54-hole scoring mark of 195 – Cink was never seriously threatened. Only Harold Varner III, with a birdie at the last, and Emiliano Grillo, with a chip-in birdie on the 16th, got within three shots of Cink in the final round.
“What a week,” Cink said as he hugged Reagan on the 18th green. A few minutes later, he said he didn’t know if he had the words to express his joy.
“It’s so great to have the whole family here,” Cink said. “It was a blast this week.”
“It’s an amazing blessing,” Lisa added.
Varner shot 66 and Grillo a 68 to finish at 15 under and in a tie for second. It was Varner’s best finish on the PGA Tour.
“He’s old and he’s kicking everyone’s ass,” Varner said of Cink. “It inspires me. It inspires me to know that I can play golf for a long time. He’s been playing well all year, though, so it’s not like I’m surprised, but this week he’s played unbelievable.”
Maverick McNealy (67), Matt Fitzpatrick (68) and Corey Conners (68) finished at 13 under. It was Conners’ fourth top 10 in his last six starts.
Reigning PGA champion Collin Morikawa – who was born the same year Cink won his first PGA Tour title in 1997 – struggled in the final group paired with Cink. After a first-hole birdie, Morikawa made three bogeys to fall back and shot 72 to finish in a tie for seventh with Chris Kirk (67) at 12 under.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson finished his uneven week with his best round, a 66, to finish at 10 under and in a tie for 13th. He once again struggled with his putting and used a different putter in the final round.
“I feel like I haven’t putted really well for the last few weeks,” said Johnson, who has now gone six tournaments without a top 10. He said he’ll play next in two weeks in the Valspar Championship. “I kept with it, kept practicing, kept grinding, but it wasn’t really getting any better, so sometimes it’s just time for a change.”
Cink rarely struggled as he joined Bryson DeChambeau as the only players with two wins this season. Cink had Reagan on the bag when he won the season-opening Safeway Open – his first victory since capturing the Claret Jug in the 2009 Open at Turnberry.
And in his 610th start on the PGA Tour this week, Cink joined Julius Boros, Sam Snead and Kenny Perry (twice) as the only players since 1960 to win multiple Tour events in a season at age 47 or older.
Cink his first shot of the tournament into a water hazard, leading to one of only three bogeys in his 72 holes of work.
In addition to his family and his continued love for the game, Cink also credits his resurgence to the work he began in 2019 with trainer and physiotherapist Cornel Driessen, the two concentrating on numerous muscle groups to increase power, balance and flexibility.