Cink captures British Open title and berth in PGA Grand Slam of Golf

The story will be told that Stewart Cink won the 138th British Open Championship, but it is incomplete unless one focuses on the gracious Champion who balanced his joy while knowing that his victory spoiled easily the best golf story in generations, July 19, on the shores of Turnberry, Scotland.

Tom Watson, eight-time major champion and playing as if he was 39 not 59, was an eight-foot par putt away from completing the most improbable journey in major championship golf. Watson's par putt never had a chance, and an hour later, neither did Watson, falling to Cink in the four-hole playoff to decide the Championship.

Cink, who earned his way into the playoff with a steady back nine that included a 12-foot birdie on the final hole of regulation, overwhelmed a weary Watson in the four-hole playoff to win the Open Championship. In the process, Cink becomes the third player to earn a berth in an elite foursome that will compete, Oct. 20-21, in the 27th PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal Golf Course in Bermuda.

Cink was flawless in the playoff, opening with two pars, finishing with two birdies and winning by six strokes, the largest margin ever in the Open's cumulative score playoff format.

Cink and Watson finished at 2-under-par 278, the highest winning score in the four Opens held at Turnberry.

"It would have been a hell of a story, wouldn't it?" Watson said. "And it was almost. Almost. The dream almost came true."

Gazing at the Claret Jug, Cink paid respect to Watson.

"My hat's off to him," Cink said. "He turned back the clock. Just did a great job. I speak for all the rest of the people here, too."

Tied with three other players along the back nine on a breezy afternoon, Watson two-putted for par on the tough 16th hole, where his challengers all made bogey to fall back. Then he made an easy birdie on the par-5 17th, giving him a one-stroke lead.

From the middle of the 18th fairway, Watson was thinking about hitting a 9-iron, then settled on an 8-iron. The ball soared right at the flag, and then bounced hard and fast over the back of the green. His putt back up the slope ran 8 feet past the hole.

Watson steadied himself over the par putt, and thousands of fans braced themselves.

The moment ended quickly. It was obvious immediately he didn't hit it hard enough. Watson's sagging shoulders confirmed it.

"I made a lousy putt," said Watson, who closed with a 72. "Then in the playoff, it was one bad shot after another."

For the first time all week, Watson looked tired. His approach to the first playoff hole, No. 5, tumbled into a pot bunker and led to bogey to fall one shot behind. After a remarkable par save on the par-3 sixth, Watson came undone.

He hooked his tee shot on the 17th into grass so deep it took him two hacks to get back to the fairway. He three-putted for a double bogey, while Cink played safe and smart for a two-putt birdie and a four-shot lead.

"It was fun to be in the mix again, having kids who are my kids' age saying, 'What are you doing out here?' It was nice showing them you can still play," Watson said. "I'm sure I'll take some good things from it. But it's still a disappointment."

Lee Westwood of England had a one-shot lead with four holes to play until making back-to-back bogeys.

Chris Wood shot 67 despite a bogey on the last hole. He tied for third with Westwood, finishing nearly two hours before Watson missed the decisive putt.

Mathew Goggin, who played in the final pairing with Watson, also was tied for the lead and had a chance to seize control until badly missing an 8-foot birdie putt on the 13th. He followed with three straight bogeys and shot 73, two shots behind.

"The same Tom Watson that won this tournament in '77, the same guy showed up here this week," Cink said. "And he just about did it. He beat everybody but one guy. And it was really special."