Puttering Around: RBC Heritage Recap

 KITCHEN CINK AWARD: STEWART CINK

Last week, I penned an inspiring paragraph on Stewart Cink’s renaissance at age 47. How he got his first win, at September’s Safeway Open with his son on the bag, since his Open Championship playoff victory over the ancient Tom Watson. Now, after being the one to best the dinosaur at Turnberry, the tables had turned, and Cink was spreading his wings like a pterodactyl. I noted that Cink not only made the cut at The Masters, but shot -3 over the final 54 holes at a course that can wear out the best athletes in the world, and even Augusta members who double as the paragon of fitness, such as noted superhuman athletes Rob Manfred and Rex Tillerson. I digested the fact that Stewart Cink had ascended back to a viewing platform/rest stop just a few miles from the top of the golf world. 

OK fine, I wrote absolutely none of that. Still, I gave out an award during my recap of The Masters to Stewart Cink. Did I write it because I was wowed by his comeback or due to my love for puns featuring the word Cink? Well, who knows? Certainly not me. Regardless, after I handed him an honor as esteemed as the Kitchen Cink Award, he turned around and didn’t just validate my praise by making the cut in South Carolina, or pick up a top ten at an RBC Heritage at an event with a better field (measured by OWGR points) than the Arnold Palmer, Farmers Insurance, Sony Open, or the treasured fifth major, the Waste Management Open. Cink jumped over that group of golfers featuring Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa, and a host of other threats like somebody who is not 47 years old, and went to Hilton Head and won the entire thing, his third career conquest of Harbour Town Golf Links. Through pump fakes that would make Dwayne Wade turn green, a son caddying who looks a bit like the adult version of Daniel LaRusso’s kid in Cobra Kai, Stew threw out the Kitchen Cink to set 36 and 54 hole records on his way to his second victory (tied with Bryson DeChambeau, of Oscars-worthy documentary fame, for most wins this season), even if his putter was seemingly burgled on Saturday night, with Cink needing to Cink an 8 footer on #17 to elevate him to 32 feet of putts for the round.

IT’S NOT HOW YOU FINISH, IT’S HOW YOU START AWARD: CAMERON SMITH

You may have heard the old adage “It’s not how you finish, it’s how you start” before, if you had in your life a strange pastor, aggressive cross-country coach, midwife, superfan of a bottom-feeder MLB team that opened the season 2-0, or brilliant golf analyst such as myself. In almost all pursuits, this message is ridiculous. The PGA Tour is a rare outlier. Especially with the newly added bonuses players can receive for greater celebrity status, exposure is a very good thing. This week, Cam Smith took full advantage of this idea. Day 1, he shot a (Bob Fitzgerald voice) SIXTY-TWOOO to digest an 18 hole lead over a stacked field. Over the next two days, he was 3 over par. This 3 day stretch may be regarded by some as a failure, with Smith well behind the leaders. These people fail to recognize the Aussie’s impeccable timing. Had he lined it up differently, with a red-hot Saturday after two meh days, we wouldn’t be talking about Smith, because he wasn’t at the top of the leaderboard. This way, he didn’t just get 5 seconds of fame, he got an entire day, plus a night, of it. For example, Michael Kim this Friday shot a 40, 18 strokes better than Jim Furyk’s PGA Tour record, and nobody was talking about it since he wasn’t in the lead. OK fine, he may or may not have withdrawn from the tournament, explaining his “historic” day. As someone who cherishes laziness, especially when accompanied by a mullet, as the Cinks walked down the 18th fairway, I, a not-quite-yet-grown man, cried, not for the beauty of Reagan and Stewart’s relationship, but the magnificence of Cameron Smith’s victory for the idle, slothful man. Smith proved to all the haters that you can, in fact, ride one incredible day to 3/7s more of a week (better known as days) worth of exposure.

DISCLAIMER: Ignore the fake news that Cam Smith’s scores of 71, 74, and 66 are very, very, very high level golf. It does not fit the point I’m trying to make, so simply disregard it

HOME COURSE ADVANTAGE AWARD: COREY CONNERS

TRAITORS OF THE WEEK: HERITAGE ORGANIZERS

Heritage boasts a scenic golf course. Heritage hosts a high quality bunch of golfers. Heritage is a wonderful event. Unfortunately, their organizers are not so swell. 99% of the time, I don’t have a ton of national pride. I love so much about the United States, but I don’t articulate that during the Pledge of Allegiance, or our other traditions of celebrating a flag. Throw Canada into the mix though, and I’m darting to a nearby store to adorn myself in American apparel. I’m not sure why I enjoy flexing a playful American superiority over Canada. Two friends of mine from Canada who I love to rib about their birthplace? Barney Stinson of How I Met Your Mother? Too much Winter Olympics frustration? So, I wouldn’t bat an eye if Heritage went with an American sponsor. I wouldn’t throw a fit if Heritage selected a sponsor from any corner of the globe from Chile to Ukraine. Yet, they choose Canada. The one country I love to toy with. The sole nation I’ll drop the occasion jolly roast on. They chose the Royal Bank of Canada. Heritage is also treacherous, for hosting their event at Harbour Town Golf Links, using the British spelling (GASP!) of harbor. Benedict Arnold has been freed. We have a new traitor, who had the audacity to sell the sponsorship rights of an American event to a Canadian company. I hope Corey Conners took advantage of this miscarriage of justice. Per rule 323a of the PGA Tour rulebook, if an event is sponsored by a country outside of the US, all golfers from said country receive “home course” rights, where a set of 18 holes that they may have never played can be regarded as five minutes from where they learned to putt. Canadian Corey Conners capitalized on this with a fantastic week, as usual, striking the ball, ranking behind only Collin Morikawa and Stewart Cink in greens in regulation. Conners has been so strong with the irons and the driver all year, ranking 9th in strokes gained tee-to-green over the past year. Once his putter can heat up like absolutely no place in Canada, he can break through for his first win in a couple years. 

(PEOPLE CLAPPING) AWARD: HAROLD VARNER III

In golf right now, one barrier for entry is wealth. Many top players worked so hard to get to this point in their careers, but only had the opportunity thanks to money. The sad reality is, golf has been a rich person’s game, with a barrier for entry too large for many living paycheck to paycheck.

That’s why it was so terrific to see Harold Varner III write a perfect piece encompassing how growing up not as affluent, his parents had to work so hard just for him to play his favorite game. As a result, HVIII announces he’s becoming an ambassador for Youth On Course, an organization I’m proud to be a member of, which gives youngsters like myself the opportunity to play golf at breathtaking courses, like TPC Harding Park, for only $5. Thank you to HVIII for helping lead the charge on a program that will be vital to leading the next generation of golfers, and making it so cost is not a factor, opening the door for anyone to learn and play an amazing game.

Not so coincidentally, Varner succeeded this week, tying for second place thanks to phenomenal play in all facets of the game, ranking top ten in strokes gained both tee to green and putting. Should every golfer announce their partnership with YOC the week prior to a big tournament? I certainly wouldn’t dissuade Jordan Spieth from expressing his support for the program five days before his trip to Kiawah.

Totally unrelated, but I loved the numbers behind HVIII and CHIII’s tie at III, with more details of the significance of the number III to them at this juncture. I forgot to mention at that time as well: They were III strokes behind leader Stewart Cink!

MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT: FATHER AND SON

Stewart and Reagan Cink reminded everyone of the humanity of sports. Not just in the awe of winning, which both certainly exhibited. Not just in the cry of defeat, which was absent from the Cink home this week. Not just in any occurrence on the golf course. Stewart and Reagan Cink made me remember why we care so much about these athletes. Cink was over the moon to win his second event of his resurgent season. However, the highlight was clearly being there with his son. The best part of Stewart Cink’s weekend was watching Reagan’s thrilled expressions as he coasted to a trophy. For many, this will go down as another intriguing week of PGA Tour action. For Stewart Cink, it’ll go on the photo wall and the trophy case as the weekend he won a tournament, with his son by his side, sharing the game they both fell in love with together.