Cink Takes to Airwaves to Talk Golf and Duluth

Stewart Cink was full of talk about the British Open, the PGA Tour, and other things that a satellite radio audience would appreciate.

But he also had plenty to say about Duluth when he set up at Berkeley Hills Country Club on Tuesday morning (Nov. 19).

"I've never been to my locker (at Berkeley Hills)," he told those who gathered in the ballroom to hear his two-hour interview on PGA Tour Radio that aired on Sirius XM Radio.

"I grew up in Alabama playing hick golf," he noted. "I can change my shoes in the parking lot."

Cink lives in a home that's on the TPC Sugarloaf course in the Duluth area, and is one of pro golf's best-known stars. The Georgia Tech graduate has earned over $32 million playing golf, but he is perhaps best known for beating the legendary Tom Watson in a playoff to win the 2009 British Open.

"It's something I wanted to accomplish," Cink said of winning a major tournament. But he acknowledged that a Watson victory "in the last 25 years, would be the biggest story in sports.

"I tried not to be consumed that I would be playing against a legend. (Watson) stopped playing (regular tour golf) before I started."

But Cink thinks strategy paved the way for his victory. "(Watson's) decision not land short of the green (on his second shot on the 18th hole) is probably what cost him."

Some other thing Cink mentioned during the interview were:

• "(he and his wife) spent time on food stamps in college, about a year or so. ... I needed to get a degree from Georgia Tech (rather than turn pro early.)"

• on a USGA rules change that allows golfers to use their cellphones during a round to access weather reports: "The cool part is you can check and see where the (tournament) cut line is. The bottom half of the field is so much better than it used to be. The greens stay better (because of soft spikes and advances in agronomy.)"

• on living at Sugarloaf: "I use the green at No. 6 to practice sometime."