2021 RBC Heritage: Can Stewart Cink Make Run at FedEx Cup?
By Tim Letcher
Stewart Cink has had a revival on the PGA Tour during the 2020-21 season. That trend continued on Thursday at the 2021 RBC Heritage. Can his solid play lead to a realistic run at the FedEx Cup?
Cink had not won on the PGA Tour since winning his only major title at the Open Championship in 2009. He broke that streak by claiming the title at the Safeway Open in September.
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Since then, Cink has proven that the one win was not a fluke. He tied for fourth at the Bermuda Championship in November.
As the calendar turned to 2021, Cink continued his solid play. He tied for 19th at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January. He did miss three cuts in a row at one point, but in his last two events, Cink has been back in the mix.
At the Honda Classic, he used a second-round 64 to get into the mix before ultimately finishing in a tie for 19th. Last week at the Masters, Cink rebounded from an opening-round 74 to finish in 12th place overall.
On Thursday at the Heritage, Cink was good all day long. Starting on the back nine, he bogeyed the 10th hole but was able to bounce back with birdies at 12, 16 and 18. That left him with a 2-under par 33 on his first nine.
Cink really got things going on his second nine.
He started with birdies at the first and second holes to get to 4-under par. After pars at the third and fourth holes, Cink cashed in at the par-5 fifth.
Cink hit a perfect drive, over 300 yards, into the right side of the fairway. His second shot, from 230 yards, came to rest about 20 feet from the cup. He rolled in the long eagle putt to get to 6-under on his round, taking the lead in the process.
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He would par the sixth and seventh holes to stay at that number. But he closed with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to finish with a 6-under 30 on the back nine and an 8-under 63 overall. He held a two-shot advantage when he finished his round.
But back to the FedEx Cup question. Can Cink make a run? If he were to win this week, he would vault up the standings into third place. From there, anything can happen. He would likely need to win at least one more time to have a realistic chance at the tour’s biggest prize. But the way Cink is playing at this point, anything is possible.