HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Stewart Cink shot a steady and stress-free 1-under-par 70 on Sunday, capping a dominant four days in the RBC Heritage as he won the PGA Tour's event at Harbour Town Golf Links for the third time.
The 47-year-old Alabama native and former Georgia Tech golfer finished at 19-under 265, four strokes ahead of Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (68) and Harold Varner III (66), a 30-year-old American who posted his highest finish on the PGA Tour.
Cink hugged his son and caddie, Reagan, after his closing par on the 18th green. Then he, wife Lisa and their other son, Connor, all had their arms around each other to celebrate a win that included Cink setting the tournament's 36- and 54-hole scoring records.
"I don't even know if I have the words," said Cink, who has eight PGA Tour victories and won the 2009 British Open.
He won for the second time this season - only he and Bryson DeChambeau have done that - and continued his resurgence on the PGA Tour at a time when many pros his age are looking ahead to the PGA Tour Champions.
Not Cink, who broke a 12-year winless streak at the Safeway Open in September and has since added five more top-20 finishes, including a tie for 12th at the Masters one week before adding another Harbour Town victory to those he earned in 2000 and 2004.
He won $1.278 million Sunday, nearly as much as the $1.404 million combined for his two previous victories at Harbour Town.
Cink, who carried a five-shot lead into the final round, is also just the fourth player to win twice in the same PGA Tour season after turning 47. Sam Snead, Julius Boros and Kenny Perry, who accomplished it twice, are the others.
Maverick McNealy (67), Canada's Corey Conners (68) and England's Matt Fitzpatrick (68) tied for fourth at 13 under.
Baylor School graduate Luke List (72) finished at par and was 58th.
Back to winning
KAPOLEI, Hawaii - Lydia Ko is golfing like she's a kid again. In other words, she's tough to beat.
No one came close at the LPGA Tour's Lotte Championship, which wrapped up Saturday on Oahu. Ko torched Kapolei Golf Club and tournament records in the process. A final-round 65 left the 23-year-old at 28-under 260 and seven shots ahead of everybody.
It brought back vivid memories of the teenager from New Zealand who in 2015 became the youngest golfer - female or male - ever to rise to No. 1 in the world. She is the LPGA Tour's youngest ever when it comes to being a tournament winner, major winner, rookie of the year and player of the year.
Ko, who turns 24 next Saturday, won 14 times in her first 81 starts, including twice as an amateur in 2012 and 2013. She had only won once since - three years ago - until Saturday.
"When it doesn't happen, you do doubt," Ko said. "If I said I didn't doubt myself at all, it would be a lie. I wondered if I'd ever be back in the winner's circle, but obviously I'm grateful for all that's happened in my career so far.
"It's been a fun week in Hawaii, and to be back in this position is obviously super cool."
Ko came up three strokes shy of the tour's 72-hole scoring record in relation to par. That target of 31 under was set at the 2018 Thornberry Creek by Sei Young Kim, who on Saturday closed with a 65 and shared second at 267 with fellow South Korean Inbee Park (63), 22-year-old American Nelly Korda (71) and Irish rookie Leona Maguire (67).
Park, Kim and Korda are ranked second through fourth in the world, behind Jin Young Ko.
Low number is his
NAPLES, Fla. - Steve Stricker figured someone could come out of the pack with a low score in the final round and win the Chubb Classic. That's exactly what happened - and it turned out to be him.
Stricker closed with a 5-under 67, taking control with a wedge shot to set up a three-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole at Tiburon Golf Club. That carried him to a one-shot victory in Naples, where the 54-year-old from Wisconsin makes his winter home.
The U.S. Ryder Cup captain won for the sixth time on the PGA Tour Champions, earning his first title since the 2019 U.S. Senior Open.
"I felt like someone could shoot a low number, and I was hoping it would be me," said the 54-year-old Stricker, who finished the 54-hole event at 16-under 200. "There's a lot of short irons on this course if you put it in play."
Robert Karlsson of Sweden, who shared the 36-hole lead with Fred Couples, and Monday qualifier Alex Cejka of Germany each made a birdie on the final hole to tie for second. Cejka closed with a 68 and Karlsson shot a 69.
Stricker moved up 11 spots to No. 13 in the season-long Schwab Cup standings. As Ryder Cup captain, he still splits time between the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions, and he sounded as if he were in no hurry to join the 50-and-older set on a regular basis.
He is just inside the all-important top 125 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings on the PGA Tour.
"I enjoy playing out here," Stricker said. "The competition is great, but I still enjoy playing on the regular tour. I've had a couple of good showings. I want to play on that big tour and see if I can't make the playoffs one more time."
Hard-earned victory
ATZENBRUGG, Austria - John Catlin beat Maximilian Kieffer on their fifth playoff hole to win the Austrian Open for his third European Tour title.
After Catlin (65) and Kieffer (66) finished at 14-under-274 through 72 holes, then battled for four more, the 30-year-old American easily wrapped up the victory after three shots from Kieffer landed in the water. The 30-year-old German earlier had a promising chance for his first European Tour victory, but he narrowly missed a birdie putt on the first playoff hole.
"It's kind of a relief. Kind of thought that playoff was never going to end and that we kept going back and forth," Catlin told Austrian TV. "It's obviously nice to win, but you never want to see your opponent finish like that. That's difficult."
It was Catlin's third win in 45 appearances and the 246th victory by a golfer from the United States on the European Tour. Catlin has 10 wins worldwide, including four on the Asian Tour.
Catlin started the final day two strokes behind co-leaders Alejandro Canizares and Martin Kaymer, but his second bogey-free round of the tournament lifted him to the top of the leaderboard.
Kaymer, the 36-year-old German with two major championships but no wins at all since the 2014 U.S. Open, closed with a 70 to finish alone in third as he missed the playoff by three strokes.