Georgia Tech #ProJackets Golf Report

Top photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images  |  Front page image by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

THE FLATS – Stewart Cink wins a PGA Tour Champions event in just his 10^th start, triumphing by four strokes at The Ally Challenge … Seth Reeves makes a big move on the Korn Ferry Tour with a tie for fourth finish … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.

CINK RUNS AWAY TO FOUR-SHOT VICTORY AT ALLY CHALLENGE

Stewart Cink was a champion Sunday night on PGA TOUR Champions, rolling to a relatively easy triumph at The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan. Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Cink’s accomplishment is that it took him until his 10th start among the over-50 circuit to get across the line.

An eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR as well as a major champion (2009 Open), Cink began Sunday with a three-shot lead at Ally and only grew stronger as a perfect late-summer afternoon unfolded in Michigan. He made six birdies and no bogeys in shooting his second consecutive 6-under 66, a round that carried the 51-year-old to a four-shot victory over K.J. Choi. Cink sealed his bogey-free weekend by getting up-and-down from 62 yards for par at 18, winning with style points.

Cink’s 54-hole total of 17-under 199 tied the tournament scoring mark set by Joe Durant in 2021. Cink earned $330,000 for his victory, moved to 19th in the Charles Schwab Cup standings (in only six starts), and afterward said that fans of PGA TOUR Champions can expect to see a lot more of him this fall.

“It feels like it’s a new hurdle to get over,” Cink said. “It’s a new chapter in my competitive life, and I would probably tell you that I thought I might have won before now. This is about my 10th event, and I hadn’t gotten one yet. So it feels good to get No. 1.”

Cink, who spent most of his summer competing on the PGA TOUR, has had his openings on PGA TOUR Champions. In five previous starts this season, he had finished outside of the top 10 only once.

Cink won in his 10th career start on the 50-and-over tour. He became the 22nd player to win on each of the PGA Tour’s three tours — the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour.

More from PGATour.com

His first PGA TOUR Champions victory!@StewartCink has won the @AllyChallenge 🏆 pic.twitter.com/p1C36NZ2dG

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

He’s just getting started 🏆@StewartCink | @AllyChallenge pic.twitter.com/Ru0HsKNdUn

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

Earlier this year, @StewartCink lost a 4-shot lead @CologuardGolf.

Coming down the stretch today, Cink admitted the loss entered his mind.

After staying strong mentally, the 51-year-old claimed his first win 🏆 pic.twitter.com/qVJdT2TFvx

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

COMPETITION ROUND-UP

Korn Ferry Tour

Five Yellow Jackets competed in the first event in the Korn Ferry Tour playoffs, which began last weekend with the Albertsons Boise Open in Boise, Idaho. Though only three made the cut, all five move on to play in the second event, the Simmons bank Open which takes place in two weeks in Franklin, Tenn. The

Seth Reeves (No. 37), Ross Steelman (No. 45) and Richy Werenski (No. 54), each of whom made the cut last weekend, are all in position to make it all the way through to the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, but neither of them are within the top 30, which will be awarded PGA Tour cards for 2025. Ollie Schniederjans (No. 101) and Christo Lamprecht (No. 138) both missed the cut in Boise.

Reeves tied for fourth place in Boise, his second-highest finish of the 2024 season, with an 18-under-par score of 266, while Steelman tied for 19^th and Werenski tied for 37^th.

The top 144 after the Albertsons Boise Open will qualify for the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, and the top 120 after the Simmons Bank Open will qualify for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The top 75 after the Nationwide Children’s will qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, after which the top 30 will earn 2025 PGA TOUR cards.

Korn Ferry Tour leaderboard

 

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A post shared by Korn Ferry Tour (@kornferrytour)

*****

PGA Tour Champions

Stewart Cink won his first event on the PGA Tour Champions last weekend with a four-stroke victory The Ally Challenge in Grand Blanc, Mich., while David Duval turned in a tie for fifth place for his second top-10 performance of the 2024 season.

It was Cink’s 12^th win as a professional golfer, joining eight victories on the PGA Tour, including the 2009 Open Championship, and three on the Korn Ferry Tour. Cink has played six events on the Champions circuit this season, posting five finishes in the top 10 and banking $744,306. At The Ally Challenge, he shot rounds of 67-66-66 for a 17-under-par total of 199 and jumps to No. 19 on the Schwab Cup points list.

Duval, meanwhile, closed with a 65 for a 9-under-par score of 207 and his second top-10 finish in 15 Champions Tour starts this year. He sits No. 47 on the Schwab Cup points list.

Both players are in good position to compete in the first of the three Schwab Cup playoff event in October.

PGA Tour Champions leaderboard

“The first of many.”@StewartCink‘s winning moment @AllyChallenge 🏆 pic.twitter.com/MEccpcXAnS

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

What’s better, the shot or the reaction?@StewartCink leads by 3 heading into the final stretch @AllyChallenge. pic.twitter.com/DwobS9bEor

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

*****

PGA Tour Americas

No former Yellow Jackets have played on the PGA Tour Americas since the tour completed the 2024 portion of the schedule in South and Central America, but Connor Howe will be in the field for the penultimate event on the Canadian schedule this weekend at the CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minn.

Howe has played on the Korn Ferry Tour this year, making six cuts in 14 events with a high finish of T-17 at the Wichita Open in in mid-June, after performing well on PGA Tour Canada last summer. Howe finished the Korn Ferry Tour regular season No. 159 in points, just missing the first playoff event, but is exempt into the second stage of the PGA Tour qualifying school in November.

PGA Tour Americas leaderboard

UPCOMING EVENTS

• PGA Tour: Tour Championship • August 29-September 1, 2024 • East Lake Golf Club • Atlanta, Ga. • Purse: $20M • FedEx Cup points: 2,000
• Korn Ferry Tour:  Simmons Bank Open • September 12-15, 2024 • Vanderbilt Legends Club • Franklin, Tenn. • Purse: $1.5M • KFT points: 600
• PGA Tour Champions: Ascension Charity Classic • September 6-8, 2024 • Norwood Hills Country Club • St. Louis, Mo. • Purse: $2.1M
• PGA Tour Americas: CRMC Championship • August 29-September 1, 2024 • Cragens Legqacy Course • Brainerd, Minn. • Purse: $225K • Fortinet Cup points: 500
• Asian Tour/International Series: Black Mountain Championship • October 17-20, 2024 • Black Mountain Golf Club • Thailand • Purse: $2M
• LIV Golf Series: Chicago • September 13-15, 2024 • Bolingbrook Golf Club • Bolingbrook, Ill. • Purse: $25M
• GPro Tour: Columbia Open • August 27-29, 2024 • Columbia Country Club • Blythewood, S.C. • Purse: $68,125

#PROJACKETS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Oh how sweet it is 😜
@StewartCink led the crowd in “Sweet Caroline” after his win @AllyChallenge. pic.twitter.com/9t7bgWw4H6

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

How does that not go in 😳

Seth Reeves is now just two back from the lead @BoiseOpen. pic.twitter.com/dLDmbpIKNB

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) August 25, 2024

David Duval came to play 🔥

He’s T7 after a hot start @AllyChallenge! pic.twitter.com/zcwB4IyYaS

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) August 25, 2024

Great imagination.
Near perfection.
Skill level: 💯@andy_ogletree | #HyFlyersGC pic.twitter.com/kRZxPvjYB6

— HyFlyers GC (@HyFlyers_GC) August 22, 2024