Stewart Cink caught fire on the back nine and opened up a six-shot lead at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Friday in Phoenix.
Cink is two rounds away from capturing his second consecutive Charles Schwab Cup, the PGA Tour Champions’ season-long title. He entered the season finale with a healthy lead in the points race, and Zach Johnson was mathematically the only player who could overtake him.
Cink’s 65 put him at 14-under 128 after two rounds at Phoenix Country Club. Steve Allan of Australia (69) is second at 8 under, and Johnson (66) is tied for third with New Zealand’s Steven Alker (66), Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke (66) and Germany’s Alex Cejka (68).
The first-round leader, Cink had an uneven start Friday, mixing three bogeys with two birdies over the first six holes. But he birdied seven of the final 10 holes and posted a 6-under 29 on the back nine, featuring birdies on the final three holes.
“Process-wise, it was very good from around No. 8 on. Really good,” Cink said. “There’s definitely some birdies out there. Could have been maybe even more, but it was more the kind of golf I want to play.”
But Johnson gave him a run early in the day by birdieing his first five holes.
Cink admitted that during his front nine, he saw Johnson’s score on the leaderboard “and all of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s right there.'”
“The wind was blowing, and I saw Zach was making this huge run, just making a statement,” Cink added. “The same kind of statement I want to be making. But I dig deep kind of like spiritually and emotionally.”
Johnson cooled off after his five-birdie start and hit a late speed bump, finishing the round bogey-bogey.
“I had an opportunity today, even going into 17,” Johnson said. “To finish that way, that’s going to hurt really bad going into the weekend.”
Johnson, a six-time winner in 2026, is aiming to be the first rookie to win the season crown.
The season points champion will pocket a $1 million bonus.
–Field Level Media
