Stewart Cink tallied a 4-under-par 67 Saturday to forge a tie with Y.E. Yang atop the leaderboard at the Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis with one round to play.
“Well, it would be amazing to win the Ascension. That is the No. 1 thing,” Cink said. “There is plenty of great company out here to join every time you take a step forward, but my focus tomorrow will be on tomorrow and this tournament.”
Yang, from South Korea, had grabbed a one-shot lead after the first round Friday, but Cink outperformed him Saturday, grabbing an eagle on the par-4 11 and adding four more birdies to force a tie at 8 under for the tournament.
Cink was 4 under over the final nine, including two straight 2’s recorded over his first two holes, overcoming bogeys on Nos. 5 and 7 to shake off a so-so start and put him in position to earn his second Champions victory of the season and of his career.
“It was a little scrappy, especially early on,” Cink said. “Just didn’t quite have a really good flow going, and I was missing shots left and right. Just kind of ugly. And then I went to the turn and I just felt like if I could shoot 4-under on the back nine that I would get myself sort of back in position, having really no idea what the leaders were doing. But I started off 2, 2 on the back nine, which I don’t think I’ve ever done in my career, back-to-back 2’s, so that was cool.”
Yang, who had recorded eight birdies on Friday, saw just three on Saturday (Nos. 2, 8 and 14). He also avoided the big mistake, suffering a single bogey on No. 3 to finish 2-under 69.
The 52-year-old is still seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory.
Three golfers are within striking distance headed into Sunday, tied at 6-under 136 for the tournament: Germany’s Bernhard Langer (4-under 67), Australia’s Rod Pampling (3-under 68) and Kevin Sutherland (1-under 70).
Sutherland had the worst round of the three, yet three birdies leave him two strokes behind the leaders.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Sutherland said. “Yesterday I didn’t really hit it that well. I made every putt I looked at and made some really nice up and downs. Today I kind of hit it very similarly. At moments hit some good shots, but I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Langer was comparatively flawless with no bogeys (compared to Sutherland’s two), and he enjoyed a hot stretch with birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 10 before adding another on 16.
Pampling, by contrast, had a wild round. Birdies on Nos. 1 and 3 were followed by bogeys on 4 and 7. He followed that with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 8 and 9. He finished his day with birdies on 11 and 17 and a bogey on No. 14.
Three Americans are tied for sixth one stroke behind that trio, along with Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (71): Jerry Kelly (68), Marco Dawson (68) and Justin Leonard (70).
