After finishing in the top 10 in the Kaulig Companies Championship on the Champions Tour here in Northeast Ohio last week, Stewart Cink has made the cut in the 151st British Open.
How Did Cink’s Performance Compare to the Top 5 World Ranked Golfers?
How good is Stewart Cink and the professional golfers on the Champions Tour?
This is often a question that sports media professionals and the general public will ponder.
Clearly, golfers on the Champions Tour are amazing golfers and athletes.
So how did Cink’s British Open performance in the first two rounds compare against the top five ranked golfers in the world?
Currently, the top five ranked golfers in the world golf rankings this week include Scottie Sheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (2), Jon Rahm (3), Patrick Cantlay (4) and Viktor Hovland (5).
Amazingly, at age 50, Cink outperformed all of the top five ranked golfers in the world during the first 36 holes of the 2023 British Open.
In particular, Cink shot a 1 under par for the first 36 holes and is currently tied for 7th heading into tomorrow’s third round.
In comparison to Cink, Scheffler the top ranked golfer in the world and Patrick Cantlay, the fourth ranked golfer are tied for 62nd at +3 after the first two rounds.
Cink is currently tied with the number two ranked golfer in the world, Rory McIlroy who is also at -1 heading into the weekend.
Viktor Hovland, the fifth ranked golfer in the world golf rankings, is at even par, while Jon Rahm, the third ranked golfer in the world is currently tied for 39th at +2.
What an amazing two weeks of golf for Stewart Cink!
Harman Leads 2023 British Open
In addition to the excellent performance of Stewart Cink, who played collegiate golf at Georgia Tech, another golfer who played collegiate golf in Georgia, Brian Harman is currently on top of the leaderboard after the first two rounds.
Harman, the former University of Georgia golfer who has won twice on the PGA Tour, had the round of the day on Friday.
Harman shot 6 under par on Friday and is currently leading the British Open by six strokes at -10.
Harman Discusses Stellar Second Round Performance
After the round, Harman commented on his performance.
In describing his excellent round, Harman recounted a simplified approach and described a focus on his own game rather than worrying about anybody else’s performance.
“Well, I’ve been hitting a lot of fairways, and then I’ve been hitting it on to most of the greens and I’m putting well,” said Harman. “I don’t know what anybody else has been doing, other than the two guys I played with. They played great today.”
Later in post-round comments, Harman discussed the importance of staying in the present moment.
“I have a very active mind,” Harman said. “It’s hard for me, I’ve always struggled with trying to predict the future and trying to forecast what’s going to happen. I’ve just tried to get really comfortable just not knowing.”
Harman also talked about his thought process going into the final 36 holes of the British Open as he reflected upon having had the lead after 54 holes in the 2017 U.S. Open.
In particular, Harman emphasized that he would try to focus on things he had more control of such as his own behaviors.
“Yeah, just not trying to get too caught up in it,” said Harman. “It’s just golf. I’ve probably, I think when I held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open, I just probably thought about it too much. Just didn’t focus on getting sleep and eating right. So that would be my focus this weekend.”
In summarizing his excellent play this year, Harman described being focused on his own process.
“Just kind of doubled down on my process and started playing some really good golf here of late,” said Harman.
Harman is scheduled to start his third round tomorrow at 10:30 am EST and Cink will start his third round at 9:05 am EST.
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