Good things are starting to happen for Stewart Cink. Now the Georgia Tech grad and TPC Sugarloaf resident is hopeful that his strong play over the last two weeks will carry over through the end of the season.
“I’ve been saying all year that the parts of my game are in pretty good shape,” Cink said. “I’m just waiting for the sum to show up.”
Cink tied for 20th at the British Open at St. Andrews and tied for fifth last week at the Canadian Open. It was his first top-10 in nearly a year.
“I love St. Andrews. It’s my favorite course in the world and I think I was inspired to ramp up my focus a little bit,” he said. “I had a pretty solid tournament there and that carried over into the Canadian Open. I tried to ramp up my focus again and concentrate on the things I can control and let go of things I can’t control.”
Those performances moved him up to No. 103 in the FedEx Cup standings. He has two more events before the playoffs: this week’s Quicken Loans National and the Wyndham Championship. His goal is to reach the BMW Championship, the final leg of the playoffs, for the first time since 2010 and make a run for The Tour Championship at East Lake.
“Now I have an opportunity to move up,” Cink said. “If I end up in the top 30, the season will seem like a very good one. I’ve got a great opportunity and I want to take advantage of it.”
Mueller wins qualifier: Kyle Mueller of Watkinsville, who plays at the University of Michigan, was medalist at the U.S. Amateur qualifier at Horseshoe Bend in Roswell. Mueller shot 135 to take one of four available spots for the championship, which will be played Aug. 17-23 at Olympia Fields outside Chicago.
The other spots went to Valdosta’s Sepp Straka and Peachtree Corners’ Zachary Healy, both from the University of Georgia, and Griffin’s Tye Waller, an incoming freshman at Georgia Tech.
Georgians also qualified at other sites around the country. Elberton’s Shad Tuten of Armstrong State won the qualifier at Amelia Island, Fla. Atlanta’s Chris Harris of Rhodes College finished first at the St. Louis site. Alpharetta’s Billy Kennerly of Clemson was medalist in Rockville, Md. Maverick Antcliff of Georgia Regents University Augusta qualified in Monroe, N.C.
Etc.: UGA grad Chris Kirk continues to heal from a broken hand that kept him out of the British Open. He will miss next week's WGC Bridgestone Invitational. … Georgia Tech grad Ollie Schniederjans finished tied for 22nd in his professional debut at the Canadian Open. Schniederjans also agreed to a multi-year deal with Callaway, meaning he'll ditch the Titleist clubs he's been playing and go with Callaway clubs and balls. … Chandler Eaton of Alpharetta, Spencer Ralston of Gainesville and Will Chandler of Atlanta each reached match play of the U.S. Junior Amateur in Bluffton, S.C. Ralston reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by eventual runner-up Andrew Orischak of Hilton Head, S.C.
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