THE FLATS – Cameron Tringale joins former champions Stewart Cink and David Duval at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews … Tringale and Vincent Whaley post top-10 finishes last weekend in Scotland and Kentucky … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
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TECH TRIO SET TO TACKLE THE HOME OF GOLF
Georgia Tech has a trio of alumni set to take on the home of golf this weekend, the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews Golf Links in Scotland, including previous Open champions David Duval (2001) and Stewart Cink (2001) along with 13-year PGA Tour veteran Cameron Tringale.
Cink (see player bio here), making his 23rd Open start, will always be remembered as the man who won a playoff and prevented 59-year-old Tom Watson becoming the oldest-ever winner of a major title at The Open at Turnberry in 2009. He also finished sixth two years earlier at Carnoustie and has made the cut in 16 of his 22 previous Open Championships. Cink currently holds the 125th position in the 2022 FedEx Cup points standings.
At The Open in 2001, closing rounds of 65 and 67 at Royal Lytham & St Annes swept Duval (see player bio here) from seven shots off the lead at the halfway mark to his first major victory by a three-stroke margin. It came as no surprise. He was America’s leading money-winner three years earlier and the following season twice took the world No.1 spot off Tiger Woods. Aside from his 2001 victory, Duval has finished 11th twice, one of them at St. Andrews in 2000, and has made the cut in 13 of his 23 previous Open starts, most recently in 2015 at St. Andrews. The 50-year-old is currently playing his rookie season on PGA Tour Champions.
Tringale (see player bio here), who tied for sixth at the Genesis Scottish Open last weekend and holds the highest position of any Tech player on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings (No. 25), is making his fourth Open Championship start. He finished 26th at Royal St. George’s last year in his first appearance since 2015, when he tied for 58th at St. Andrews.
We had a special guest pop in to see the Claret Jug in Edinburgh this afternoon …
👋 @stewartcink pic.twitter.com/lvFZ3odbqD
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 4, 2022
A great view of David Duval at @TheHomeofGolf in 2000 @TheOpen. @EricWachter @doglegpar3 pic.twitter.com/Jybet7GLXc
— The Golf Library (@GolfLibrary) July 4, 2022
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CINK, UNLIKELY 2009 OPEN CHAMP, IN BETTER SHAPE TO CHASE ANOTHER
Stewart Cink was an unlikely British Open winner when he broke up the fairy tale story of a 59-year-old Tom Watson capturing his sixth claret jug at Turnberry.
Cink, 36 when he captured his only major championship, has not been back to Turnberry since, but he still remembers the playoff win.
“You think about milestones in your life, and like that seems like so long ago,” Cink said of his victory. “The memories are still fresh, but I feel like that was in the middle of my career. And I feel like I’m like towards the end of my career now.”
The most vivid of memories for Cink, now 49, was when he tapped in for birdie on the last hole of the four-hole playoff. The result was already settled as Watson’s age and adrenaline was a factor after missing out on a win with a bogey on the 72nd hole; he didn’t have four more holes in him.
The two shook hands and Cink became a bit of a reluctant winner, with the entire fan base hoping for Watson to turn back the clock.
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TRINGALE SHOOTS CAREER-LOW 61, TIED FOR 6TH IN SCOTLAND
Cameron Tringale couldn’t have been hotter in his opening round at the Genesis Scottish Open, firing a 9-under-par 61 for the lowest round of his PGA Tour career, which included a stretch of six consecutive birdies from holes 10-15. The round at the Renaissance Club gave him the fourth opening-round lead of his career, but like the first three, however, he would not be able to hold the position.
Tringale started similarly in round 2, making birdie on three of his first six holes to get to 11-under-par, but he went 8-over-par the rest of the weekend to finish at 3-under-par 277 and a tie for sixth place, picking up his up his career-high fifth top-10 finish of the season. He remains the PGA Tour player with the most career earnings and most career starts (333) without a PGA Tour victory.
With the high finish, Tringale was able to move up 12 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 25, inside the top 30 that would qualify him for the season-ending Tour Championship if he can maintain the position.
Stewart Cink posted a solid weekend with a tie for 24th place after a closing 67 that left him at even-par 280, and Matt Kuchar tied for 47th place at 284 (+4). Cink edged up to No. 125 in FedEx Cup points, while Kuchar held at No. 48.
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WHALEY POSTS CAREER-HIGH FINISH AT BARBASOL CHAMPIONSHIP
For the 11th time in his 67 starts on TOUR, and fifth time this season, Vince Whaley completed a tournament with all four rounds under par, firing rounds of 70-64-67-67 for a 20-under-par total of 268, five shots behind winner Trey Mullinax, who earned a tee time at the Open Championship with the victory.
The finish was the highest in Whaley’s career, his second top-10 of the 2021-22 season and third of his career.
Whaley further solidified his position within the top 125 in FedEx Cup points, moving to No. 103 in the standings while attempting to advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career. Whaley has not been outside the top 125 all season, bottoming out at No. 123 following a pair of missed cuts in May.
Seth Reeves enjoyed a solid weekend, tying for 27th with four subpar rounds (69-68-68-70) and a 13-under-par total of 275, while Chesson Hadley tied for 68th at 282 (-6), and Richy Werenski withdrew after 27 holes. All three players – Reeves is No. 179, Hadley No. 140, Werenski No. 197 in the FedEx Cup standings – have work to do over the final four events of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs.
All four players are in the field for this week’s Barracuda Championship in California.
