Stewart Cink Holds On for His First Victory in Four Years

Stewart Cink held off charges from defending champion Hunter Mahan, Tommy Armour III and Heath Slocum to obtain his first tour victory since August 0f 2004 at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.

Cink began the day with a two-shot lead of Heath Slocum; a position in which he he was just 1-for-9 in his careers at closing out a 54 hole lead.

In recent years Cink has earned the reputation of a player that just cannot close out a tournament, and up until today, Cink has remained true to that label even while having one of the best seasons of his career.

With a one-stroke lead, Cink sent his tee shot into the crowd on the eighteenth and followed by hitting his second shot clear over the green, which began to raise fears that he could once again be self destructing. Cink silenced his abundance of critics by then managing a superb chip shot which led to a three inch putt to win the tournament away.

The Travelers Championship may not be one of the bigger tour events and may have in some ways felt like an amature or second rate event after last week's historic US Open and the shocking news of Tiger Woods impending season-ending knee surgery, but that does not in any way dampen Cink's largest accomplishment since 2004.

Winning any PGA Tour event is no easy task and Cink knows that better than most.

Stewart Cink is quietly having one of the best years of anyone on the PGA Tour.

Cink has the most top ten finishes on tour (7); he is third in Fedex Cup points, third on the money list and is currently the 12th ranked player in the world, all without having won a tournament prior to this week's Travelers Championship.

Cink is also a familiar face on the United States' Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams having played in the last three Ryder Cup and last two Presidents Cup events.

Cink won this same event back in 1997 when the tournament was called the Cannon Greater Hartford Open and has come full circle to end his four year drought by winning again at TPC River Highlands, which for Cink, must feel somewhat similar to his first ever tour victory.

Now that the monkey is finally off his back, look for Cink to be a top contender at many of this year's remaining tournaments, particular in the absence of Tiger Woods.