Stewart Cink, 50, part of five-way tie for Valspar lead

 

[March 23, 2024]  Fifty-year-old Stewart Cink shot a 4-under 67 to join a five-way tie for the lead at the Valspar Championship before play was suspended Friday in Palm Harbor, Fla.

As the field endured rainy conditions at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course, 15 golfers did not complete their second rounds before darkness fell. They will resume their rounds Saturday at 9 a.m.

The five co-leaders, though, all finished in time. Cink is tied with first-round leader Kevin Streelman (72), Chandler Phillips (68), Brendon Todd (69) and Canada's Mackenzie Hughes (68) at 6-under 136.

Nine players were tied at 5 under, with only Rico Hoey of the Philippines still on the course out of that group. Hoey was 1 under through 16 holes for his round.

Justin Thomas shot a 69 Friday and is part of the knot one back of the lead, along with other notable names Lucas Glover and Irishman Seamus Power.

Cink drained a 21-foot eagle putt at the par-5 first hole (his 10th hole of the day) to go with five birdies and three bogeys.

Cink's last win on the PGA Tour was the 2021 RBC Heritage. He began playing events on the PGA Tour Champions after turning 50 last May.

"Obviously the field is a little different here at Valspar than it was the last time I teed it up at Cologuard in Tucson on the PGA Tour Champions," Cink said. "I was -- to say in contention would be like understating it. I should have won the tournament and I didn't finish it off. I had a little bit of a meltdown.

"So I'm just thrilled to be right back at the top of the leaderboard to test myself out again this week because that's really what you want at the start of the year. You want to get in contention as much as possible and let the chips fall."

According to the tour, Cink made his 500th career cut. Should he win on Sunday, he would be the seventh-oldest winner in tour history.

Hughes started his round with a 9-foot eagle putt on the first hole and was steady from there, making just one bogey and two birdies.

"I've kind of felt like my game was close these last few weeks," Hughes said. "I mean, the last few Signature Events I've basically finished 30th or 25th, and I feel like I'm on the precipice of, like, a great week. And obviously, you know in those tournaments, everyone's so bunched up like a couple shots here and there, and those are top 10s. So I think that I came in here with some positive vibes, some good momentum."

Thomas is still in contention despite hitting a water ball off the tee at the par-3 13th and making double bogey, to go with six birdies and two bogeys.

Thomas would have been tied for the lead if not for a bogey at the 18th, where his second shot found a greenside bunker.

"I scrambled really well and I hit a lot of really, really quality golf shots," Thomas said. "I picked a bad time to have the worst shot of the tournament so far, but I'm in a great place with two days left."

The projected cut line was even par. Jordan Spieth posted a second-round 74 to fall to the wrong side of that line at 1 over for the tournament. Keegan Bradley (1 over), Sam Burns (1 over), Brian Harman (2 over) and Tony Finau (5 over) are all in line to miss the cut.

--Field Level Media

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