Stewart Cink

Q:  Stewart, how important was the birdie at the last hole to keep the momentum going into tomorrow?  I thought that was big?

STEWART CINK:  Well, any birdies on the PGA Tour are big.  I didn’t really feel like I had a lot of momentum or a momentum block, I was just trying to string together a bunch of good shots in some pretty difficult conditions if you weren’t playing straight downwind out there.  So I think being just very present today, being in the present was really important because you can let some shots get away from you.  The scores are low but this course can really punish you if you’re off.  So I just felt like it was a good chance for me to be aggressive.  Hit the fairway at 18, had a short iron in and took advantage of it.

Q:  You’ve had a great week and now one more day.  Looks like the wind’s going to blow tomorrow.  What do you think’s going to happen?

STEWART CINK:  Well, I wish it was predictable because I would love to say I’m going to shoot about 9 under tomorrow.  We’ll come out here and have a good time tomorrow, I know that.  I’m enjoying playing golf.  Me and my caddie, Taylor Ford, are getting along real well out there.  It’s just a blessing, I’m grateful to be here doing this and so hopefully tomorrow I can string together some more good shots and maybe get a few putts falling.

Q:  How much more tricky was it out there today where you had to pick your spots to be aggressive?

STEWART CINK:  It was.  “Tricky” is a good way to put it.  It was a completely different golf course than it was when I played here on Thursday.  Other guys played here on Friday.  With no wind, this place is pretty defenseless and today the defenses were up.  You just had to really be smart about your shot collection and hit the ball solidly.  I’ve seen it blow harder here.  It was not the kind of day I think where a lot of guys are going to let it get really out of hand because the greens are still holding, but it was a lot harder to get the ball close to the hole, to get it the right distance and I think that is probably going to show with the scoring average.

Q:  The attitude that you would have going into tomorrow with your experience and also with such a bunched‑up leaderboard, what will you be thinking?

STEWART CINK:  I don’t honestly know what I’ll be thinking.  That’s tomorrow.  I had a good time playing out there.  I played with Patrick Rodgers, first time I played with him, and I believe this was the first time I played with Tim Wilkinson, too.  Both those guys are just great to play with.  We had a good time out there, had some good chats and laughed a little bit.  I just enjoyed myself, hit a lot of nice shots and it added up to a pretty good score.  Patrick shot 65 in my group, which is great.

Tomorrow I’ll be confident and aggressive again.  That’s the way I want to feel when I come to the golf course and I plan to do that tomorrow.  I’m going to do everything I can before I get here to make sure that happens and then just let the chips fall where they may and have a good time doing it.

Q:  You make bogey on 17 followed up with a birdie on 18.  How much did that change the tenor of your round?

STEWART CINK:  Well, I think I’m proud of myself to say it didn’t change it at all.  17’s playing really difficult today.  I three‑putted from about 60 feet, which was a little disappointing but that’s kind of the nature of it today.  It’s windy out there and you have to hit a lot of good solid shots.  Went to 18 and made a birdie.  It was a good day overall.  I enjoyed myself playing with the group, a couple new guys I haven’t played with before and I did hit a lot of nice shots, so I plan on taking that confidence out there tomorrow.

Q:  We had you in the booth on Thursday, you were talking with Rich about the great news you got on Monday with Lisa.  To have her walking at each event, what has that done?

STEWART CINK:  Well, it calms my nerves a little bit.  I wish it could calm my golf nerves, but it doesn’t because they’re still there.  But it does calm just the overall stress of everything with our life right now.  I’m just happy for her that she feels well right now.  She’s got good news on her health overall.  This week has just been a really great week and we’re just, I can’t even describe how blessed we are to be here.