PHOENIX – Two defeats, two to play, a second stroke of luck and a new No. 1.
Stewart Cink shot a 5-under 66 to maintain his three-shot lead over the 35-player field at the 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship. For the second day in a row, he avoided disaster on the par-5 18th hole.
On Thursday, a shot from a bunker hit the flag and stopped two feet away, setting up a closing birdie. On Friday, his second shot was well short of the green, hitting the bank that slopes toward a lake. But his ball managed to stay stuck in the rough and not get wet. He then moved forward and made two putts for par.
“It was just a little lazy swing there on 18. It’s going to happen, but obviously it was a little bit more right than I wanted, but we had a lot of distance to make sure we had some kind of a wide space to give us some forgiveness there,” Cink said. “That bank actually has grass there on the 18th. When you come back towards the middle of the green, there’s no grass. So that part of the hole can hold a golf ball. But I I’m very happy that it stayed in place.”
Cink avoided a bogey on Friday and has just one in 36 holes. He is aiming for his second PGA Tour Champions victory in 2024.
Langer, 67, shoots 64
Bernhard Langer won the day’s round, with a score of 7-under 64. It’s his best round in this event and is three shots better than his age. This is also the 21st time this timeless marvel has lived beyond its years or better.
“Every once in a while I look back on my career and I almost have to pinch myself and say, man, it’s pretty amazing what you’ve done over the last few years, so many years,” he said. “Like a day today, to shoot 64, 3 shy of my age, not many people can do that.”
At the par-4 17th, Langer holed a long putt from about 25 feet for his eighth birdie of the day. He said a slight adjustment to the putter alignment paid off.
“I moved the ball a little further away from me. I started to look better, the ball was rolling in a line and so far everything was going well. It worked two days in a row,” he said declared.
Schwab Cup: Format, TV, prize money | Winners in 2024 | Money in 2024
Langer intended to make the 2024 Masters his final trip to Magnolia Lane, but a ruptured Achilles in February derailed his plan. He later said 2025 would be his last appearance at Augusta National and he confirmed it again on Friday.
“It will, without a doubt. This course is so long,” he said. “The last five or 10 years when I played there, I played a really long time. It’s not a lot of fun hitting 3-woods into par 4s and 2-hybrids and all that kind of stuff. holes are made for 7, 8-, 9-irons and I come with metal and other things.
New No. 1 in Schwab points
As for the tournament within the tournament, the season-long points race, there is a new leader in the projected ranking. Steven Alker, who came in second place during the weeksurpassed Ernie Els, No. 1 in the last 12 tournaments.
Alker, who won the Cup two years ago and this tournament last season, shot a 3-under 68 Friday at Phoenix Country Club and is tied for fourth. Meanwhile, Els shot a 70 and is 3 under overall this week, tied for ninth. Els is seeking his first Schwab Cup points title.
Back to Cink. Although he may not win the season title, there are scenarios in which he could finish as high as second place.
How it works
The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is a four-round, 72-hole no-cut tournament.
Unlike the PGA Tour playoffs – where the winner of the Tour Championship is declared the FedEx Cup champion – it is possible for someone to win this event while someone else takes home the Schwab season title.
The winner of the tournament wins the Charles Schwab Cup championship. The winner of the season-long race is Cup champion Charles Schwab.
This article was originally published on Golfweek: Stewart Cink retains 2024 Charles Schwab Cup championship lead, Steven Alker takes points lead
