Stewart Cink was aware he had spoiled the party at the British Open on Sunday but that did nothing to take away from his sense of achievement.
The 36-year-old from Alabama got the better of a weary Tom Watson in a four-hole British Open play-off to claim his debut major win on a day of high drama at Turnberry, denying his 59-year-old compatriot the chance to become the oldest major winner in history.
A distinct anti-climactic atmosphere spread over the suddenly cold links as the cheers and roars that had accompanied Watson around the course gave way to polite applause for Cink on the biggest day of his career.
He is no stranger to not being the crowd favourite.
”I’m engulfed by the joy, for sure, but I can understand the mystique that came really close to developing here and the story,” he said.
”I don’t feel ashamed. I don’t feel disappointed. I’m pleased as punch that I’ve won this tournament, and also proud of the way Tom Watson played because he showed what a great game we all play.
”It’s not the first time I’ve been in that situation. I’ve played plenty of times with Tiger and hearing the Tiger roars and Mickelson.
”I’m usually the guy that the crowd appreciate but they’re not behind me 100% of the way.
”So that’s the sort of role I’ve been cast into for my whole career. And, hey, that’s not the worst. It’s okay.”
A solid, but unspectacular player, he has been a regular contender over the last 14 years since he turned professional but rarely a winner, the last of his five titles coming at last year’s Travellers Championship.
A good team player from his college days at Georgia Tech, Cink has also grown into a key member of the US Ryder Cup team, but he was beginning to doubt his own abilities to win at the very highest level.
He did come close before in a major, taking a double-bogey in the final hole of the 2001 US Open at Southern Hills, Oklahoma to blow his chances of getting into a playoff which Retief Goosen eventually won.
”I’m not sure I really thought much about whether I was good enough to win a major or not,” he said.
”I knew I’d been close a few times, but I never really heard my name tossed in there with the group of best ones not to have won.
”So maybe I was starting to believe that, but for some reason I just believed all week that I had something good.
”I just felt so calm. I never even felt nervous at all in a situation that in the past I would be extremely nervous.
”I felt like I was just totally at peace about whatever happened because I was proud of how I played up to today.”
What did the trick, he said, were changes he made to his putting stroke after firing a third round 77 at the Players Championship earlier this year.
Notably he switched back to a normal putter from a long one and mastered an effective pre-shot routine that on Sunday proved to be key to his success.
Cink played a superb play-off, claiming birdies on two of the four holes but it was the 15-foot putt he holed on the 72nd hole that he identified as the most important shot of the week.
”It will be the most crucial putt ever struck in my life,” he said. ”I hope there will be some more. It was just the sweetest moment.” — AFP
