ASCENSION CHARITY CLASSIC

September 8, 2024

Stewart Cink

Norwood Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Stewart, that was a pretty weird finish. I mean, you got to 13-under; you had a lead; talk about the last three holes in particular.

STEWART CINK: Well, let's talk about the last two really. I played 16 exactly the way I would've drawn it up. I just hit like a really wide miss on 17 that just got it there. You know, it's not a narrow driving hole, but it's a little bit of an awkward hole for somebody who kind of likes to peel a little left-to-righter out there.

So I just kind of bailed on -- there was one place it wasn't going; it wasn't going left. I just bailed out to the right; got myself in jail. Did a reasonable job getting back in position, and then -- but when you make a bogey that late in the game -- all of us were playing really good golf. That was a pretty special experience I think for all of us. We were just -- everybody was playing great.

But when you make a bogey at that stage you open yourself up to the two-shot swing. When guys like Bernhard and Yang, they both play similar games where they are both just very accurate. Short iron comes in for Yang and he's going to hit it stiff.

So good on him for making a birdie there.

And then he really had to dig deep on 18, and that was pretty fun to be a part of there, even though I was on the wrong end of it.

Q. Bernhard is a legend out here obviously. You've seen it up close. You've seen it up close probably during your career playing with him on the PGA TOUR. How impressed are you that he continues to do this at the age that he is?

STEWART CINK: Yeah, it's so impressive. Probably even more so now that I've gotten to play with him in the hunt, on a Sunday, with the whole thing riding on it.

He just is like a machine out there. He's very accurate. He's very well planned and thought out. He and Terry have a good rapport with each other. They just go about things in a very professional way.

He shoots the optimal score every day. Like he just doesn't give a lot away. Yeah, he's really impressive.

Q. Despite not coming out with the victory, how you feeling? Confident with your game? Looking forward to the rest the season?

STEWART CINK: I am. I feel like I can contend in a lot of these events on the PGA TOUR Champions. I expect to.

You know, today I felt like I played good enough to win probably save the tee ball and a lot of what happened on 17, but it's still a good experience.

I actually didn't really play great. I was a little off, but I managed my way around really nicely and made a few good putts when I needed to.

And I got to beat. You know, those guys both shot really low scores today.