(Photo credit score: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Images)
Stewart Cink put himself in competition to win a 3rd straight main, as he shares the lead after the primary spherical of the U.S. Senior Open Championship on Thursday in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
Cink and co-leader Charlie Wi of South Korea every shot 3-under-par 67 at Scioto Country Club to sit down atop a tightly bunched leaderboard. Wi received a lift from a five-birdie streak, whereas Cink shot 5-under 30 on the again 9 after carding two bogeys amongst his first 9 holes.
George McNeill, England’s Simon Griffiths and Sweden’s Freddie Jacobson are a stroke again as 15 gamers broke par.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland is amongst 10 golfers tied for sixth at 1-under 69.
The others are Ben Crane, Tommy Gainey, Paul Stankowski, Wales’ Jamie Donaldson, Australia’s Richard Green and Greg Chalmers, Germany’s Alex Cejka, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Cink opened with a bogey on the par-4 first gap and had one other blemish with a bogey at No. 5 to make the flip at 2 over. He heated up on the again 9, with birdies at Nos. 10, 13, 14, 16 and 18 for a 30 and a 67 whole.
‘I do not assume I discovered something,’ Cink mentioned of any changes when making the flip. ‘I simply determined to start out trusting what I’d already been in possession of. I’ve been off for a short time, and I began like I’ve been off for a short time. Middle of the golf green on 1, and I inexplicably misplaced my belief within the downswing and flared it out to the suitable within the bunker.
‘I needed to show it to myself once more that I might play respectable golf a sure means. The again 9 was very nice. I truly might have shot fairly a bit decrease on the again 9. I missed three very fairly like inside — proper round 10 ft or much less birdie putts.’
Cink leads the Charles Schwab Cup standings after incomes 4 wins in 9 occasions. He captured the primary two majors of the yr, the Senior PGA Championship in April and the Regions Tradition in May. He additionally received the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in January and the Hoag Classic in March.
Wi, whose greatest outcome this yr is a tie for third on the Insperity Invitational in May, has three top-10 finishes in 2026 as he pursues his first win on tour. He is thirty first within the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
‘I hit the ball fairly strong in the present day, made a few putts,’ Wi mentioned. ‘It was a sizzling day. I simply made positive that I stayed within the ballgame, which means like mentally, since you might simply lose it on the market. Yeah, total it was only a strong day within the first spherical.’
Starting his spherical on the again 9, Wi carded birdies at par-4 holes Nos. 10 and 13 earlier than a bogey at No. 18. He additionally bogeyed No. 1 earlier than stringing collectively 5 consecutive birdies at Nos. 3-7 to get to five beneath.
‘Today I used to be like, wait, did I simply run off 4 in a row? On the fifth one I used to be interested by it, come on, get it out of your mind, and I used to be capable of make it,’ mentioned Wi, who had a five-birdie streak on the Regions Tradition.
However, catastrophe struck at No. 8. Wi needed to take a penalty and drop on his third shot on the 496-yard par-4, which ranked the toughest gap of the spherical. Wi received to the inexperienced on his fourth shot and completed with a double bogey.
–Field Level Media