Stewart Cink shot a 3-under-par 68 on Saturday to hold a three-stroke lead at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix, keeping him on track to defend both the tournament title and the season-long points crown.
Cink followed rounds of 63 and 65 with a less spectacular performance at Phoenix Country Club, reaching 17-under 196 through 54 holes. His six-shot advantage after the second round was trimmed by Zach Johnson and Australia’s Scott Hend, who finished the day tied for second at 14 under.
Cink, 53, struggled to sustain the momentum from his opening two rounds but preserved his lead with several timely recoveries.
“I mostly saved myself, got out of jail a couple times and I didn’t have a whole lot of offense going,” Cink said. “I played pretty good golf tee-to-green most of the day, but just the ball wasn’t really going in the hole much.”
Hend made the biggest move of the day, firing a 9-under 62 to climb from a tie for 15th into a share of second. The Australian started Saturday nine strokes behind Cink after opening with rounds of 67 and 70, but his surge put him squarely in contention entering the final 18 holes.
Johnson also closed the gap with a 7-under 64, his best round of the tournament. He was seven shots behind Cink after Friday’s play and now sits three back, leaving the two players who are still in the running for the Charles Schwab Cup separated by the same margin on the tournament leaderboard.
Johnson, a six-time winner during his rookie season on PGA Tour Champions, said he missed opportunities on the three par-5 holes despite an otherwise steady round. He will play alongside Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson (11 under) in Sunday’s penultimate pairing, with Hend joining Cink in the final group.
“The way I look at it is my opponent is the golf course, not the gentleman or gentlemen that I’m competing with,” Johnson said. “If I start being concerned about what they’re doing with their golf ball or golf shots, then this golf course here is going to eat my lunch. So I’ve got to stay right where I’m at.”
Jacobson holds fourth place at 11 under after a 66. Tim O’Neal also shot 66 and joined Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen, South Africa’s Retief Goosen, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke, Germany’s Alex Cejka and Australia’s Steve Allan in a six-way tie for fifth at 10 under.
Cink entered the week leading Johnson in the season-long standings, with no other player mathematically capable of winning the points title. The defending champion has five victories this year and is seeking to become the first player to capture consecutive Charles Schwab Cup titles since Bernhard Langer won three straight from 2014-16.
Cink nevertheless expects a difficult final round, particularly after watching Hend erase six strokes of the deficit Saturday. Another round like Hend’s 62 could put Cink’s title defense in jeopardy.
“Coming into this tournament, if you told me I could take a three-shot lead going into the last day, I would have taken it in a heartbeat,” Cink said. “So that’s what I have. I’m pleased, and I just know I have an uphill battle tomorrow. It’s going to be a serious contest out there.”
–Field Level Media
