Going into the
We would like to welcome 2021 champion Stewart Cink here at the RBC Heritage. Stewart took part in a tradition here of hitting the ceremonial shot with the cannon blast. If you could talk us your third time doing that.
Stewart Cink: Yeah, third time, and it’s a little surprising, I remember it being really taken aback by how loud and how much compression that cannon produces when you’re hitting the ball from 15 feet away.
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So I was ready for it this time, I had the ear plugs really screwed in and still you can’t get, there’s no way to be ready for that. To try to hit a ball into the air with that noise going on. It’s hard enough with a cell phone going off here and there. But that cannon is a new level.
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Back in a place that you love so much, defending, talk a little bit about the state of your game coming into the week.
Cink: Well, I feel like this year’s been a really, it’s kind of a year that’s gotten away from me so far, I’ve played really close to playing very well but I just have been trying to kind of grasp at something that hasn’t quite connected just yet. I’ve had some moments but it hasn’t been the kind of year that I was hoping for. I’m looking to come to a place like Harbour Town and maybe get some confidence memories to turn things around.
And I’m not far off and I’m staying like steadfast focused on what I’m doing and it’s just, it hasn’t worked out for me yet this year. I’m in a position where I don’t have to fret about it too much, I’m still enjoying it, Reagan’s caddying, we’re having a great time and I feel like it’s a pleasure to play golf in competition. And I want to get myself into the thick of it again before too long because I feel like emotionally I’ll be in a good spot to compete.
Speaking of Reagan, you guys have had a lot of memories over the last couple years on the golf course, another one last week in Augusta. Just comment on your week and also the hole-in-one there on 16.
Cink: Augusta was kind of like a little glimpse into the whole season, where I didn’t play that well and I was just a little off and Augusta just punishes you for being a little bit off, and then we had one moment that definitely shone brightly with an ace on 16, a memory that we’ll never forget. Reagan might even be the owner of crystal pretty soon from that. 25th birthday. But it was on his birthday, he was born the Tuesday of my first Masters back in 1997. So my memories of him and the Augusta National Golf Course and the Masters go back as far literally as his life started.
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Looking back to last year and now what does it mean to you to have full capacity with fans at this tournament as a golfer? What is it like to come back here with the COVID restrictions no longer here?
Cink: Well, we really love having the fans that we can play in front of. It gives us the energy and it just makes the place feel like a sporting event and that’s awesome. But I also know it probably means more to the tournaments to be able to have fans back because it means more goes to the community in charity donations. If there’s nobody sitting up here in these seats, there’s nobody buying beer or T-shirts or food or snacks or anything like that, that’s where the funding for charity goes to. So it’s great to see everybody out and I know the weather will be nice this week, it looks like the forecast is really solid, so there’s going to be a lot of smiling faces out there and hopefully we’ll give them something to cheer for.
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Tiger referred to you as the Kitchen after his final round Sunday. What’s the origination of that nickname and how do you feel about it?
Cink: Well it’s been something that people called me ever since I was little. Ever since I can remember. Tiger thinks he started that, but he did not start that. I’ve been referred to as Kitchen ever since I was a little kid playing golf back in Florence, Alabama growing up. There was a guy named Tim Kitchens who I played in a couple partner events with up there everybody just thought that was the funnies thing that Kitchens and Cink were playing together. And I was 13, 14 years old when that happened, people been calling me that for years. Tiger’s always called me that, it’s just kind of a funny nickname, Tiger’s got nicknames for everybody just like we have for him and everybody else too. It’s is part of the locker room banter.
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