AKRON, Ohio — Stewart Cink will not be critiquing his caddie’s performance anytime soon. He has been playing very well lately, so there isn’t any reason to do so. But, regardless, it might make the car ride home a bit awkward.
Is it because Cink would never have any complaints anyway? No.
Is it because anything negative happened on the course this week, or since his current caddie took over? Nope, not at all.
He has played some of his best golf on the PGA Tour Champions as of late.
Is it because the person doing the caddying for him happens to be his wife? You betcha.
Cink’s caddie this week at the 2023 Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone Country Club is Lisa Cink. The two are happily husband and wife, and they now have the opportunity to walk the course together side by side.
It’s a tandem that’s working, both in terms of their on-course and off-course relationship. At the conclusion of Friday’s second round, Cink was 6-under for the tournament and one shot behind leader Harrison Frazar.
But the experience of the two being able to have a good walk around the course is what really matters.
“She’s been caddying for a few months, and she’s going to continue — I can’t fire her, so it’s up to her,” Cink said this week, smiling. “She’s got 100 percent of the timeline on her job [security]. Right now she’s doing a good job, and I just like having her out there. It’s good for our relationship.”
Being able to have Lisa there with him brings a different dynamic than most player-caddie relationships. Stewart has taken over most of the decision-making around club selection and yardages, which he says he likes to do anyway. But Lisa knows Stewart better than anyone else. And from a mental calmness standpoint, nobody would be better to have as a caddie than her.
“I love her enthusiasm. She’s learning. She wants to be doing a good job like a professional caddie does,” Cink said. “The guys and gals that caddie out here for a living do amazing work and they’re really quite good at their jobs, so Lisa would probably be hard pressed to ever get to that level.
“But, emotionally and sort of therapeutically, what she helps me do out there is to be myself, to keep it light and free me up. There’s really almost nobody on the planet that can do that better than her.”
Cink’s sons have also caddied for him in the past. Having a loved one brings a different kind of value to the course, and it’s one that Cink perhaps needs more than club selection help or yardages or help with reading the greens, considering he feels he can do that on his own.
“When Lisa caddies — or both of my sons have caddied, too — it just puts me in sort of a calmer frame of mind,” Cink said. “It also puts more of the burden on taking care of all the decision-making on me, which I like because it keeps me really engaged in the shots and decisions and the operations part of golf. … It’s good for me, kind of keeps my mind really locked in on what we’re trying to do, so that’s an added benefit.”
Stewart said Lisa has also quickly picked up much of the operations side of the job already. She enjoys it. Stewart enjoys it. And it’s bringing positive results.
“There’s a lot of benefits and there’s really not one drawback,” Cink said. “It’s fun to see her progress along the way. She’s fun to have around and she has a great attitude about it.”
With a smile, Cink added, “We don’t do a whole lot of caddie evaluation in our family.”
K.J. Choi hits hole-in-one at No. 5 at Firestone Country Club
K.J. Choi made his way up the leaderboard during Friday’s second round, in large part thanks to a hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth.
It was the 20th ace in course history in PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions play.
Choi finished the second round at 4 under for the tournament, three strokes off the lead heading into Saturday’s third round, which had tee times moved up two hours because of incoming inclement weather.