PHOENIX ― Stewart Cink made a statement on Day 1, backed it up on Day 2 and now Zach Johnson has some work to do.
The only two golfers who can win the Charles Schwab Cup are now separated by seven shots heading into the weekend at Phoenix Country Club.
Thursday, Cink bolted out to the first-round lead with an 8-under 63 but sputtered a bit early Friday. He opened with a birdie before back-to-back bogeys. A birdie on the fifth was followed by a bogey on No. 6, but another birdie at the ninth led Cink to a front-nine 36. Then, he caught fire, making birdies on all but three holes on the back nine, coming home in 6-under 29. He admitted he didn't even know he shot 29 until he was told during his post-round interview.
Cink also admitted to a mid-round
funk and to glancing at the scoreboard where he noticed Johnson's score.
"I just know I'm a lot better when I'm really detached from the results. I was probably a little bit attached out there," Cink said. "The wind was blowing, and I saw Zach was making this huge run, just making a statement. The same kind of statement I want to be making. But I dig deep, kind of like spiritually and emotionally, like I know when my heart is in the right place for golf, and it's certainly not when I'm trying to wrestle the results to the ground like a bull. You can't do that."
Cink's six-shot lead is the largest 36-hole lead on the Champions Tour in 10 years, but he says this is not the time to lay off the gas pedal.
"There's no reason to do that. Chris Jones, my caddie, and I, we're very aggressive with our executing, and mostly we're very aggressive with our game plan, too," Cink said. "There's a couple spots where I feel like it's smart and risk assessment to maybe be a little more conservative off the tee, but mostly we're very aggressive. I see no reason to change that because the whole point of the plan is to make the lowest score possible on every hole. I don't care if you're leading by 6 or behind by 6, you still want to continue to try to make the best score on every hole."
As for Johnson, he posted a 2-under 69 on Thursday and came out hot Friday, his round sparked by five birdies on his first five holes. After a bogey at No. 7, Johnson tacked on three more birdies at Nos. 9, 12 and 13. He did stumble coming in with bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18, something that left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"I hit good shots there early on, it just didn't feel tight," he said after his round, which ended under a light drizzle. "That's probably the best way to put it. I did not feel tight. My game did not feel tidy. My putter was great and I hit some good shots, don't get me wrong. It caught up with me the latter part of the day unfortunately."
Johnson is among a four-way tie for third at 7 under with Steve Allen in solo second at 8 under after he shot 69.
Weather rolled into Phoenix during Friday's second round
There was a 50 percent chance of rain in the early forecast and the skies were overcast all day. A little after lunchtime, that rain did come, in the form of spittle that hovered for a while. There was no lightning in the area, though, so golf rolled on.
The bad news is it ran most of the fans away, but the skies will be sunny and the temps just about perfect for the two weekend rounds with a high of 71 on Saturday and 76 on Sunday.
Charles Schwab Cup Championship leaderboard after 36 holes
The 34-man field is tearing up the course. There are just two golfers over par so far.
Charles Schwab Cup standings after 18 holes in Phoenix
The top 5 finishers in points will earn Schwab bonus money, and with Cink and Johnson locked into the top two spots, there's going to be some jostling for spots 3, 4 and 5 between now and Sunday evening. These standings match the way they look heading into the week.
- Stewart Cink
- Zach Johnson
- Steven Alker
- Padraig Harrington
- Retief Goosen
2026 Charles Schwab Cup Championship Friday Round 2 tee times
The first-round tee times were set in reverse order of points coming in so Cink and Johnson made up the final twosome Thursday. For the rest of the week, the tee times are based on scoring in the tournament. There were 36 qualifiers but the field started with 35 due to the suspension of Matt Gogel and then dropped to 34 after Stephen Ames withdrew before Round 2.
Todd Kelly is Golfweek's assistant managing editor.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Stewart Cink leads Charles Schwab Cup Championship by 6, plans to stay aggressive
