Clarke finishes fourth and Cink secures his first victory on the Champion’s Tour

Stewart Cink maintained his good form at the Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Michigan, to take his first win on the Champion’s Tour. He managed to string together three strong rounds to secure the win at -17, four rounds ahead of second-place KJ Choi.

Darren Clarke followed his third place finish in Canada last week with a fourth place at Warwick Hills, two behind third placed Mike Weir. His consistent performances have taken Clarke to 16.^th in the overall standings of the Charles Schwab Cup, five events before the playoffs. Pádraig Harrington was unable to improve as he shot par on the final day and dropped down the rankings.

Clarke has found a good streak of consistency in recent weeks and that was evident on the final day in Michigan. He made three birdies on his first nine holes as he remained bogey-free before his first drop shot on the par-4 12^thHe responded brilliantly with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes before giving one back on the 15th.^th. However, he rallied and made birdies on two of his last three shots, including his final hole of the week, to finish with a strong five-under-par 67.

Harrington capped off a week to forget with a par 72 in his final round, trading four shots with Warwick Hills on a competitive Sunday. His season has not been affected, however, as he is still comfortably in the top 10 of the Schwab Cup standings. Tour veteran Bernhard Langer is coming off a 67 in two days and turned back the clock on the final day to shoot an unbeaten 65, a score only David Duval could match on Sunday. This is the 16th most successful round of the year.^th For the first time, the German has made shots his age or better on the Champion’s Tour.

“Yeah. Well, I noticed it on one, I don’t know which hole it was, but it was early in the round, probably the fourth or fifth, that KJ got off to a good start and was already tied with me, so my lead was gone,” a victorious Cink reflected after his round. “The whole lead thing was over. It actually helped quite a bit to put me in a little bit more of a fight and attack mode rather than a protection mode. I played well the first four holes. I mean, I had birdie putts. I didn’t make anything, but I was just a little bit defensive and hesitant, I could sense that.”

“I was just really proud of myself for staying in the moment and playing my best on every shot,” added a visibly delighted winner. “Today my best was pretty good, it was the best golf I’ve played in a long time.”

Next up for the Champion’s Tour is a trip to St. Louis, Missouri, where Norwood Hills Country Club hosts the Ascension Charity Classic. Steve Flesch is the defending champion, but Harrington knows how to win in St. Louis, having won the title in 1922. The fifth-to-last tournament of the regular season takes place September 6-8, while the race for the Charles Schwab Cup heats up.

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