Golf

Stewart Cink lands first victory since 2009 British Open

Veteran 47-year-old posts a final round of 65 to secure the Safeway Open by two strokes

Stewart Cink celebrates his Safeway Open victory in California. Photograph: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty

Mon Sep 14 2020 - 06:54

PGA Tour veteran Stewart Cink has put together a stellar final round 65 to win the Safeway Open in California by two shots.

The 47-year-old followed up a third-round 65 with another equally-impressive seven-under on Sunday to finish 21-under for the tournament and secure his first victory since the 2009 British Open.

Entering the final round tied for seventh, Cink took little time to continue his surge up the leaderboard as he carded four birdies on the front nine.

His momentum carried over into the back nine, with four more birdies proving enough to overcome a bogey on the 17th and keep him ahead of runner-up Harry Higgs.

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Higgs shot a four-under 68 on Sunday to finish the tournament 19 under.

Cink paid tribute to the help he received through the week from his son and caddie Reagan.

He told the Golf Channel: “It’s been a blast. Reagan’s a great kid to be around.

“He knows the game in and out like a PGA Tour player himself and he did a great job keeping me positive and keeping me loose out there and we just had a really great time from the get-go.”

Scotland’s Russell Knox was unable to make a late charge on Sunday, with his two-under 70 not enough to keep him in contention.

Knox entered the final round on 14 under and with a shot at victory, however his good work in picking up three birdies on the front nine was ultimately undone by three bogeys on the back stretch.

England’s Ben Taylor carded a final round 73 to finish tied for 36th.

Collated final round scores in the Safeway Open, Silverado Resort and Spa, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 72):

267 Stewart Cink 67 70 65 65

269 Harry Higgs 69 62 70 68

270 Brian Stuard 67 67 66 70, Doc Redman 70 69 69 62, Kevin Streelman 72 66 65 67, Chez Reavie 67 71 66 66

271 Kristoffer Ventura (Nor) 69 66 66 70, Sam Burns 64 65 72 70

272 Pat Perez 65 69 69 69, James Hahn 68 65 67 72, J.J. Spaun 70 68 66 68, Russell Knox (Sco) 63 69 70 70, Akshay Bhatia 66 72 66 68

273 Bud Cauley 68 68 69 68, Sepp Straka (Aut) 70 66 68 69, David Hearn (Can) 69 69 66 69, Chesson Hadley 70 67 69 67, Doug Ghim 67 66 69 71, Michael Gligic (Can) 70 68 67 68, Sahith Theegala 71 68 64 70, Xinjun Zhang (Chn) 69 67 67 70, D.J. Trahan 67 65 70 71

274 Ricky Barnes 69 66 69 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 68 68 70, Vincent Whaley 69 70 66 69, Beau Hossler 73 65 69 67, Cameron Percy (Aus) 64 68 68 74, Nelson Lauta Ledesma (Arg) 69 68 67 70

275 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 69 68 65 73, Brendan Steele 65 70 69 71, Jason Dufner 70 67 67 71, Harold Varner III 67 71 71 66, Branden Grace (Rsa) 68 71 68 68, Tom Hoge 66 68 70 71, Bol Hoag 64 72 71 68

276 Andrew Putnam 70 68 69 69, Cameron Davis (Aus) 71 68 70 67, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 67 68 68 73, Mark Anderson 68 69 71 68, Rob Oppenheim 68 66 73 69, Ben Taylor (Eng) 69 67 67 73, Scott Harrington 66 70 70 70, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 74 65 67 70

278 Phil Mickelson 71 67 70 70, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 70 65 77 66

279 Nick Watney 72 65 74 68, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 67 70 68 74, J.B. Holmes 70 68 70 71, Kyle Stanley 70 69 68 72, Jim Furyk 72 66 71 70, Patrick Rodgers 67 72 70 70

280 Joel Dahmen 71 68 71 70, Ryan Blaum 71 67 72 70, Austin Cook 68 71 71 70, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 70 68 69 73

281 Charley Hoffman 67 71 71 72, Hudson Swafford 70 68 72 71, Isaiah Salinda 71 68 69 73, Kevin Chappell 69 70 73 69, Jamie Lovemark 69 69 71 72

282 Adam Schenk 68 71 71 72, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 69 70 71 72, Jonathan Byrd 69 69 71 73, Will Gordon 72 67 70 73

283 Luke List 70 69 70 74, Lucas Glover 69 67 74 73

284 Brandon Hagy 69 70 74 71, Joohyung Kim (Kor) 67 72 75 70, Brice Garnett 69 70 73 72, William McGirt 69 69 77 69

286 Andy Zhang (Chn) 66 72 70 78

288 MJ Daffue (Rsa) 71 65 74 78

291 Rhein Gibson (Aus) 73 66 76 76

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