Cink Defeats Watson In Open Playoff; Future Of American Golf Looks Strong

Your thoughts?

Comments

[Tim in Hoylake]

Well done Stewart. Tom was amazing; what a pair of British chokers, both making bogey on the last hole to miss the playoff by one. And Ross Fisher - Zombie Man. And he thinks he won an Oscar with that speech. Brilliant.

[Jeremy]

Countdown to the inevitable "Stewart Cinks Watson" headline...

[DBCooper]

Reckon this gives strength to the argument that Nicklaus faced stronger competitors in his day than Tiger does now?

I do.

[Hawkeye]

DBCooper, I'm afraid I agree with you.

[dbh]

I'm exhausted.
Thank God Cink played the playoff holes so well. Cold comfort, but comfort none the less.
Cink's trophy presentation remarks and in an interview I heard on the live radio feed were incredibly classy. Great respect for Watson but not patronizing and proud to be the champion.

[bonus]

Tom was amazing; shame he couldn't pull it off. I was in a club in Pittsburgh with 100 people pulling for him. We're thrilled for what he could and wish it could have been just one less stroke.

[sir real]

Totally spent emotionally, after watching one of the most epic performances in the game's long history come down to a strong kick and release on 18. If Tom stays on the putting surface he wins. Sadly he did not and one of the greatest chippers of our time chose the flat -stick to determine his fate. A cruel result followed and he couldn't come up with the stroke he needed to secure an historic victory.

Hats off to a solid effort by Cink. To birdie 18 the last two times you played it, in a Major, on a tricky hole, says it all...a deserving champion.

Oh, what could have been...Thank you Super Tom!

[MRP]

DBCooper - I totally disagree. Cink birdied 6 of his last 13, and 3 of his last 5. Not exactly faltering down the stretch.

[Frank Lee]

The course was great.

[ec]

The future of American golf and success at the majors is hard to declare because individual success at the highest level is so mercurial. Since there is so much depth of good players on the tour, anyone of them could rise-up on a given week and take the tournament.

Therefore, as to who wins majors and from what part of the world they're from, the champion's list runs in cycles. (At least until Woods gets his game all back together)

Just a year ago, it seemed the American Ryder Cup team would be destroyed. Players in form and developing good chemistry goes into winning the Ryder Cup.
But as of right now, Corey Pavin projects to be going in with a talented and seemingly deep team.

Veteran Corps
Woods, Mickleson, Furyk

Young Guns
Kim, Mahan, O'Hair

Steady-eddies
Leonard, Johnson, Cink, Stricker

Swing guys
Weekly
Glover or Na

[Jim]

American golf looks strong?

disagree but OK

[Kevin]

In Cink's case, it was probably best that he kept his Nike cap on during the trophy presentation.

[sodface]

Cink's a terrific player--he was bound to win a major at some point. I'm happy for him. But more than anything else I feel lucky to have watched Watson show once again why he's one of the greatest champions of all-time, and one of the greatest links golfers of all-time. He gave us a wonderful Open week.

[Joey]

The real question is this: Is Cink the first tweeter to win a major?

[Wayne]

First Phil and Duval got our hopes up for the sentimental win, now Watson. If somebody does this at the PGA I'm turning it off. It always seems to be a letdown. We barely saw Cink all week, and hardly at all early today, so it was hard to invest much emotion in his win.

[Bob Smiley]

Probably the most depressed I've ever been in the aftermath of a sporting event.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

All Hail Tom Watson, A Champion for the Ages!!!

DBCooper is right. The TOUR was not as wide, but it was damn sure deeper when Jack had to beat Watson, Trevino, Player, Palmer. Not to mention Casper, Floyd, Miller. Ditto for Jack's opponents, too. Just sayin'...

BTW, DB, where ARE you? They found some of your money, but you are still out there somewhere?

[Former S&T convert]

Cink never hit a shot during regulation 72 holes while he was in the lead....Watson guarded the lead all weekend. I guarantee that Watson thought the tournament was his while his second shot on 18 was in the air.

[Jeff Lewis]

Emotionally, very difficult day. Statistically, coldly....perhaps the greatest individual sporting achivement ever. Even with the playoff loss.

[China Golfer]

If you think the Brits (Westwood and 20-year-old Wood) choked, what about Watson? Yes, he was brilliant fun to watch, and yes, he did great for an "old geezer" but he still choked - and along with it went the greatest story in the history of golf. Fr that, Cink deserved it. Westwood a touch unlucky. How his eagle putt on 17 didn't go in I don't know, and his approach from the bunker on 18 was class. But yeah, idiot for 3-stabbing. I like the look of Wood for an Open at some point. And I hope any sponsorship agreement he goes on to sign doesn't require the donning of headgear. How nice it is to see a professional golfer not wearing a cap or visor.

[The O]

Cink finally shakes off the couldof, shouldof of Southern Hills.

[Kevin]

China Golfer -- Wood's skin will benefit from some headgear. It looked red on my TV.

[Vince Spence]

Geoff, American golf does look strong. We had 5 players in the top 26 spots on the leaderboard. Next year, we might have 6 in the top 30. After Watson & Cink, there 3 Americans in the 23 spots. Wow!! Also, 21 Americans missed the cut...

[Jim]

Golf is so cruel sometimes, this makes me sad.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

China Golfer:

There is a difference between choking and running out of gas at the age of 59 years and 10 months.

[Scott]

China golfer, your name should be "China tosser."

[dsl]

Some sour grapes - Tiger missed the cut while being just seven back from the eventual playoff number. I keep saying it, but he has to stop spotting these leads in the first round of Majors. For some reason, when the Majors play like regular tour events (ie round one), Tiger seems unable to break out of major mode and actually make low numbers. It's frustrating because any Major is better when Tiger is somewhere in the field.

That said, it was very compelling action out there. Watson fell just far enough back at the start that ESPN were unable to over hype him and it made for much better coverage. For a while, I was sure that Luke Donald's number would hold and we'd have the dreaded Major winner whose shots weren't shown during the coverage. Lee Westwood should be kicking himself right now - he must have realized that par on 18 was a very, very good result. Cink surprised the heck out of me today - I can't say that enough. He was incredibly impressive in every moment where I was sure he'd falter. Great on him.

Rick Reilly's essay was predictably terrible and I couldn't believe ESPN took that shot at Tiger's attitude (using shots of Tiger slamming his club in contrast to Watson as the gentleman golfer). Sure it sucks when he acts like that, but I don't think Rick Reilly and ESPN are the ones who are going to convince him to change.

Finally - Mike Tirico will NEVER be qualified to put anything into perspective as it relates to the sport of golf. He's a bloody ESPN/ABC swiss army knife and he should just stick to his role and stop trying to editorialize every time something significant happens. Why couldn't he leave the blabbering about Watson to those who are ingrained in the sport (Rankin, Weikopf, Alliss, etc)? His words on the historical significance of anything carry absolutely no weight whatsoever.

[gabby johnson]

I give Cink a lot of credit. He did what Tiger can't do. Come from behind and win a major.

[Andrew]

Why do Cink's two sons have the same haircut as his wife? It looks like they all went to the same salon.

[Wisconsin Reader]

I, for one, regret that what we watched this week could never happen at a major championship in the United States. . . The ground game does not exist anywhere else except the Open Championship. . . After this week - I firmly believe it is the #1 tournament in the world.

[Geoff]

Vince,
The headline was a subtle joke about the age of the two Americans in the playoff.

[NRH]

Spot on dsl, especially being shocked that ESPN prodded Tiger. That will not be soon forgotten by his camp.

[Ludell Hogwaller]

China,

That not a choke. That was a downwind 8-iron powered by enough adrenalin to crank a cold fairway mower engine.

A momentary error, falling back on American lawn darts, instead of what got him to the 72nd hole, playing the ground game.

Not a choke. Adrenaline burst. Just like I got moments ago when I read the word "Choke"

[China Golfer]

What the hell is he doing OVER the green?!?! And he, arguably the best links player in history. That green is 30 yards deep. If he was in between clubs, and goes with the 9, he's still looking at - at worst - two putts from 30 feet, and it's up hill. I'm sorry, I think Watson is fabulous. And what he did was tremendous. But he of all people should have factored in adrenaline etc. coming down the last. It was a brilliant show, but I feel a lot of people are letting him off the hook. He should have won. He knows that, and so does everyone else. You're not running out of gas on the last hole of the Open - you're flying, and you're doing your damnest to win. Wrong club, his mistake, feel sorry, yes, but he still messed up. It doesn't matter how old you are.

[dsl]

NRH - That's exactly what I was thinking re: Tiger's long memory. ESPN are trying to take over Major golf for the foreseeable future and they're needling the single biggest name in the game? And who are ESPN and Rick Reilly to be pointing fingers about etiquette and good manners? I realize they invested heavily in Reilly, but they stand to lose more when they let him slight Tiger.

[RM]

Rick Reilly is a great in print, not so much on TV. And when he writes, it reads like its just his opinion, often in the form brilliant humor. It doesn't translate to TV, and it looks like he's speaking for the network, which then just pisses some (or a lot of) people off.

[vwgolfer]

Did anyone notice how Azinger had to mention the Ryder Cup like every other sentence? And no Goosen for the entire round, wow I know he is not the most exciting guy but geez he was a few shots back the entire day.

[Ky Laffoon's Ghost]

Let me rephrase: Watson ran out of gas during the playoff. He was hitting on all cylinders for 71.5 holes. Having an 8-iron bounce that hard was not a choking. Period. His first two shots on the 18th were a pure as can be. But the bounce was unfortunate in the extreme.

Oh, and about Reilly. His column in SI was frequently the only reason to pick up the magazine in the dentist's office, but his commentary is putrid. That crack about Old Tom's deal with the devil was awful, uncalled for, stupid, and not funny. And if Peter Alliss wants to wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie, more power to him. I thought Reilly looked more like Tom Wolfe than Neil Sedaka, and that is an insult, Mr. Reilly.

ESPN is definitely on Eldrick the Magnificent's sh*t list. LOL. But so is Old Tom himself, probably, for that crack about Tiger after the 3rd round.

And Geoff, thank you once again for being the one indispensable golf web site and the only one we really need.

[Jordan]

Watson's failure at 18 happened so fast that I still haven't processed it. It wasn't like Van de Velde where you could tell you were watching a meltdown. It was a bad bounce, a putt, and a putt, and all of a sudden it was over. Incredibly deflating. I can't relate it to anything else I've seen in sports. Instead, it was like a reverse of Doug Flutie's "Hail Mary." All the energy just went out. And you knew Watson wouldn't win the playoff.

(Also, I echo Ky Laffoon's Ghost's comments about this site.)

[Charlie Ruggles]

Ditto and Ditto Ky Laffoon's Ghost and Jordan--Geoff-- your diligence, hard work ( I understand "playing hurt" this week), vision and overall top drawer commentary on all that is golf is most appreciated!! Kudos to you again--as always your site makes a difference for us all!! Keep up the great work, and we look forward to more of this "one stop shopping" at the best golf website.
...and Rick Reilly should never be able to comment on anything wearing that awful get-up!!