Stewart Cink has won the first two majors this year on the PGA Tour Champions, though isn't thinking about the Grand Slam this week at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. He just wants the U.S. Senior Open title that he fell just short of last year.
“The way I think about it is I would rather just have won the U.S. Senior Open than have it be part of some series of events like the Grand Slam,” he said. “It means a lot to me that this is a big tournament.
It’s certainly one of the biggest tournaments of the year on my schedule, and that’s why we’re here, to compete and win.”
The 52-year-old Cink has four wins in nine starts this year, including the Senior PGA Championship and the Tradition. It is the second straight year that a player has won the first two majors. Cink will try to avoid the fate of Angel Cabrera, who did not make the cut in last year's Senior Open.
Cink leads the tour in driving distance, but that might not be an advantage beginning Thursday, because Scioto's layout is more about precision than power.
“It does take the driver out of your hand in places, a lot of places, but power translates all the way through the bag. So power is an advantage coming into the greens, too. It’s not just about hitting the driver far,” Cink said. “I think the biggest challenge here is just going to be to remain yourself and not try to be someone you’re not. The golf course has got a lot of challenge out there. I don’t think it really fits one type of player. It’s just a really good overall golf course.”
Cink finished second in last year’s U.S. Senior Open at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as Padraig Harrington won his second Senior Open title by one shot.
Harrington, who also won in 2022, is trying to join Miller Barber as the only three-time champions in the event’s 46-year history.
“There always seems to be something in front of you that you kind of have to layup off. Most of the field will play from the same positions on pretty much every hole, so it will be a second-shot golf course, approach shots. And the greens are very good, so the standard of putting should be very high this week,” said Harrington, who is in the middle of a stretch of playing eight straight weeks.
Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson are among the 50 golfers in the 156-player field making their first Senior Open start.
Besides the usual challenge of a USGA championship, another factor will be temperatures near triple digits. Cink feels like he is ready for whatever is thrown his way.
“It’s going to be a grind and a test, and stay hydrated and stay rested. But really just stay kind of in the present and just be myself,” he said. “I think the way the year or so has gone, I’ve proved to myself that it’s enough just to be pretty ordinary. And I don’t mean that in a negative sense. I mean being ordinary in extraordinary circumstances like these is enough and just to remember that.”
This marks the third time Scioto has hosted the U.S. Senior Open. Gene Sauers won in 2016 and Dale Douglass in 1986.
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