Stewart Cink shared his preferred Open Championship rota courses.
Cink’s win at Turnberry in 2009 remains one of the most memorable editions in recent history, especially given how it played out against Tom Watson.
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Watson was chasing a fairytale victory at age 59 but bogeyed the final hole to fall into a playoff with Cink, who knew he was not exactly the crowd favourite that week.
Cink took control during the four-hole playoff to secure his only major title, forever linking his name to one of golf’s most dramatic finishes.
Stewart Cink reveals which courses he would include in his dream Open Championship rota
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Even though he won his major at Turnberry, Cink still puts another course ahead of the rest when it comes to The Open Championship.
The 52-year-old spoke about his choices during an interview with Fried Egg Golf, where he was asked what venues he would have making up the rota.
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“It would be St Andrews, and that’s all. I have this love affair with St Andrews. I love The Old Course so much, I just can’t get enough Old Course, and I just think it’s so much fun to play. It’s a wonder being there. Not knowing how old it is, and then the way it can be set up for public play and for a major,” he replied.
“Yeah, if the wind’s not blowing that hard, the players tear it apart, of course, but I don’t care. The shots you hit there, and the way that course presents itself, it’s just remarkable how great it is and how cool some of those shots are. I would have just the one course rotation there, it would be like The Players Championship of the major rota, just one course.”
Stewart Cink names his favourite part of St Andrews
Cink has not actually played all that well at The Old Course during The Open. He missed the cut in both 2005 and 2022, with his best finish there being a tie for 20th.
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Even so, the fact that he still puts St Andrews at the top of his list – especially given that he won his only Open somewhere else – says a lot about what the place means to him.
Cink was then asked to pick out his favourite part of the course, and replied: “I kind of like the huge mound in front of four. It looks like a Hershey’s Kiss that someone put in a growth ray or something and it grew up about 500 times. And it’s just sitting there for no reason except to screw with your brain.
“It’s exactly where you want to land the ball for almost every hole. It’s so obvious a couple of dudes went out there with a shovel and just built it, and it’s been there forever. And no one says a word about it, but it’s exactly where you want to land your ball and you’ve got to put some kind of curve on it and land it right or left of that thing. It’s always in your mind and it’s right there on the front of the yardage book. It’s probably the first time that anyone’s ever singled out that feature as their most notable feature on the golf course.”
St Andrews is set to host The Open Championship again in 2027.
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