Stewart Cink authored a 6-under-par 64 on Saturday to rocket to the top of the U.S. Senior Open leaderboard with one round to go at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.
Cink sits at 9 under 201 through 54 holes as he attempts to go 3-for-3 on PGA Tour Champions majors this year. He’ll begin the final round one shot ahead of defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland, two in front of second-round leader George McNeill and three ahead of Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez.
“I hit a lot more high-quality shots today for sure,” Cink said. “I think a lot of it has to do with a conversation I had with (caddie) Chris (P. Jones) earlier before the round about just my commitment level before the shots was a little off and just not quite there, not where it needed to be.
“Today was a day about making the choice to be committed and be willing to accept anything. That just has a tendency to free me up. When I play freed up, it’s just the results are usually a lot better, and executing is a lot better.”
Cink, 53, kicked his round into high gear with an eagle at the par-5 No. 6. That moved him to 3 under for the round. He added birdies on the ninth, 12th and 17th to seize the lead.
While Cink played bogey-free golf, Harrington shrugged a bogey at No. 4 and reeled off five birdies in a six-hole stretch to position himself for another U.S. Senior Open showdown with Cink.
Harrington and Cink shared the lead with Mark Hensby after three rounds last year at Broadmoor Country Club in Colorado Springs, Colo., but Harrington emerged with the victory by one shot over Cink and two over Angel Jimenez.
“To play Harrington, he’s such a great player, and I’ve admired his game for so long, I think we both kind of bring good out of each other,” Cink said. “I know I’ve heard him say that (to) the press. I know he probably thinks I don’t read his press, but I’ve read it before. He said that. I agree; I like playing with him. And he’s the ultimate competitor. He’s never going to take a shot off, and I don’t expect him to tomorrow, either.”
“It’s a little bit like riding a roller coaster,” Harrington said. “The further you get away from being on it, the more you think you enjoy it. Yeah, look, I’ll be out there tomorrow. I know I want to be there. I know this is why we do it, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
“But I’ll be questioning my decisions at times during it. It’s one of those things; you put yourself out there, you put yourself under pressure. You don’t want to mess up. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. But it’s still a tough place to be.”
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke matched Cink’s 64 – the best scores of the tournament – to climb 36 spots in the standings. Clarke and Paul Stankowski (68) share fifth place at 3 under with four more golfers, including England’s Ian Poulter (69), sitting at 2 under.
Final-round tee times are being moved up several hours to avoid storms expected to hit Columbus in the afternoon.
