HOYLAKE, England — The question was a curious one considering the subject matter and the person who was being asked.
“Do you think a man in his 50s can win The Open?’’ a reporter asked 50-year-old Stewart Cink, who’d just shot a 3-under 68 in Thursday’s first round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool to stand two shots out of the lead.
“Oh, yeah, for sure,’’ Cink responded. “I just have to look back a few years to Phil Mickelson winning the PGA [at Kiawah Island in 2021]. I think that was probably a more difficult course than this.’’
Asked if he can “draw’’ from what Mickelson did at age 50 years and 11 months, Cink said, “I do. Absolutely. Watching him win that was … it didn’t really surprise anybody. He’s been so good for so long. I have wins recently [two wins in the 2020-21 season], so I’m not that different of a golfer than I was then.
“I have no doubts that I can win this. It’s going to take a lot. It’s going to take some really, really exceptional play on my behalf, but it’s in there.’’
Cink politely didn’t embarrass the questioner by reminding him that he had an up-close-and-personal experience against a rather high-profile 50-something player at the 2009 British Open, when he outlasted 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff.
“I watched Tom do that in 2009, and I’m still way younger than he was then,’’ Cink said.
Cink is a good man who’s forever known as the guy who buzz-killed that 2009 Open at Turnberry, with Watson nearly shocking the sports world by winning a major at 59. Golf fans everywhere wanted to witness history in that Open, and Cink ruined it for them — while capturing his one and only career major championship, but one that was unfortunately tainted by the rare circumstance.
If he were to carry the mojo from Thursday’s opening round through the next three rounds and win a second claret jug, Cink would be far more accepted and respected than he was in ’09, because people looked past his amazing accomplishment and focused on the fact that they didn’t get to see a 59-year-old legend recapture glory and rewrite history.
If you focus on what Cink is doing this week, his caddie for the tournament is his wife, Lisa, who’s fought a long battle with breast cancer, and you cannot help but root for him.
He’s 50 and could easily be settling onto the cushy Champions Tour with 54-hole tournaments and no cuts, but Cink is still chasing FedExCup points and fighting it out with the long-hitting 20-somethings on the PGA Tour.
Good for him.
When he was asked after Thursday’s round if he’s playing next week, Cink said, “I am. Yeah, Minnesota.’’
“I meant Porthcawl,’’ the reporter asked, referring to the British Senior Open in Wales.
“I actually committed to play that and then I decided to play 3M [the PGA Tour event in Minnesota]. I decided to play because FedExCup is coming up and I’m pretty far down the list.’’
He said if he falls out of the top 50 in points, he has “a feeling’’ he’ll play more Champions Tour events next year.
“I like winning tournaments, and it hasn’t been that long since I won, so I know that I can still get up in the mix and give myself a chance to win,’’ he said. “The key to winning out here in this game is you’re not going to wrestle the bull to the ground very often. You’re going to just need to get yourself in position enough times where the winning happens.
“The greatest thing about Tiger [Woods] was he put himself in position to win a whole lot of times, and it happened for him a lot of times.’’
Cink credited Lisa for keeping him going in the heat of the stress that comes with weeks like this.
“She’s kind like a therapist out there for me,’’ Cink said. “She’s really good about keeping my heart in the game and my head in the game. When things start to get off the rails a little bit, she’s there and really good about kind of reminding me about getting back where our two feet are, in the present.’’
At the present, Cink in the mix to win a second British Open. And you can make the argument that he deserves to experience another one with a much different, more positive, reaction from the outside world.