Musings: Cink closes the deal at the Travelers

This week’s Musings begin with a pop quiz: Name the top three in the current FedExCup standings. Tiger and Phil, you knew. Rounding out this elite threesome is…Stewart Cink? Yep, Stewart Cink.

Cink was becoming his sport’s A-Rod — a formidable talent who posts numbers when the pressure’s off, then folds like a cautious poker player when it really counts. An unfair label, to be sure, just as it is for A-Rod. Still, it was nice to see Cink, who fended off Tommy Armour III and Hunter Mahan to win the Travelers Championship by a single shot, finally finish what he started.

In March, Cink had lost the 54-hole lead in the PODS Championship to Sean O’Hair, marking his eighth loss in nine career events in which he held the lead entering the final round. This time, a solid final-round 67 was enough to hold off stirring charges from Armour and Mahan, both of whom shot final-round 65s.

“I know there has been some talk that I have not been a closer,” Cink said afterwards. “They had every right to say that, because I felt the same way myself. So I felt that I had something to prove to myself.”

That’s not to say he won comfortably. Cink bombed his tee shot on the 72nd hole into the gallery on the right, then airmailed the green with his approach. Here we go again, thought the crowd. But a deft up-and-down sealed Cink’s fifth career win, his first since the 2004 WGC-NEC Invitational. “To stand over that last putt, even though it was only two feet long, and to knock it in the middle, it was a great feeling,” he said.

Cink passes Woods and Geoff Ogilvy for the most top-10 finishes on Tour this season with seven. But this weekend, winning was the only thing.

Rumbles of thunder delayed play for just over an hour on Sunday, giving Cink time to contemplate what he had to do. “Sometimes when you have to wait a little bit, you have to go through a few extra trials, it seems a little bit sweeter,” Cink said. “This time, the way that I was able to do it — I had the lead all weekend, we had to endure a rain delay and guys were firing left and right. I stayed a step ahead, just enough. I think that makes it even more sweet.”

Graybeards

Perhaps tiring of the spate of victories by 20-somethings this season, the Metamucil-and-Advil crowd stood tall at the Travelers. The 48-year-old Armour was looking to become the oldest winner on Tour this season. His playing partners, Kenny Perry (47) and Vijay Singh (45), both finished in the top 10. Singh replaces Cink as the player with the most FedExCup points without a win this season. Singh has five top-10 finishes on the season but is still searching for his 32nd career victory.

Cink’s win now marks six straight victories on Tour by players over 30. Take that, you young punks.

Up for Grabs?

Tiger Woods’ absence for the remainder of this season could pay dividends for other players in multiple ways. Not only does Woods’ injury open a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but it will also render his World No. 1 ranking more vulnerable than it’s been since he reclaimed the top spot from Vijay Singh. ESPN.com’s Jason Sobel reports that if Woods doesn’t compete through March 1 of 2009, his average points total in the World Golf Ranking will dip from its current number of 21.14 to 9.33, which is below Phil Mickelson’s current number (10.08). It’s possible that when Woods returns to action, he won’t be the world’s top-ranked player. Well, on paper, anyway.

Media Darling

Rocco Mediate has parlayed his inspirational performance at the U.S. Open into a victory tour of sorts. Mediate appeared on the Tonight Show and gave interviews to virtually every major media outlet, from CNN to Fox News to the BBC. His post-Open schedule was so packed that he had to turn down requests from the three major network morning shows. His agent says a book deal is brewing. Not bad for the guy who didn’t win.

A Slu of Victories to Come?

It hardly seems possible that Jeff Sluman is 50 years old and playing on the Champions Tour. The winner of the 1988 PGA Championship still looks like a kid, and this weekend, he played like one, too. Sluman, who said his game was “in tatters” when he turned 50 last September and began play on the Champions Tour, earned his first win on the senior circuit, draining a 34-foot birdie putt on the last hole to seal a two-shot win over Loren Roberts at the Bank of America Championship. Sluman’s closing 64 marked the best final round by a winner on the Champions Tour this season. Now that he’s making putts, Sluman is poised to become the Tour’s next dominant player. “That is going to be hard to beat,” Roberts said of Sluman’s final-round putting display.

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