Cink's return to short putter yielding positive results
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
DUBLIN. Ohio -- When Stewart Cink missed the 54-hole cut at THE PLAYERS Championship last month, he knew something had to be done.
So Cink went home to Duluth, Ga., and headed straight for the basement. He rummaged around in that private stash of clubs all golfers seem to accumulate and found what he was seeking -- a short putter.
Cink has used a belly model for the better part of the last six years. Six rounds into his experiment with the more conventional flat stick, though, the former Georgia Tech All-American finds himself in a solid position at the Memorial Tournament.
Not bad on Muirfield Village's serene greens that Tiger Woods said were running at 14 on the Stimpmeter. Not to mention, a pretty good adjustment after shooting three rounds in the 60s at Colonial last, week where the greens were running about 2 ½ feet slower.
Cink says the greens on Jack Nicklaus' signature creation force a player to be in "playoff mode" from the get-go.
"You've got serious speed issues on some of these putts from outside of 20, 30 feet, where you just have to be dead on with your speed and the line to get it within tap-in range," Cink said. "And certainly to make putts you have to be right on it.
"It's been fun to see some putts go in. I've made a few, and I've missed a few. Like I said before, that's golf."
Cink, who is using a Nike prototype so new it doesn't have a name yet, acknowledges that there will be some "head-shaking" at Muirfield Village as the greens speed up over the weekend. One thing he hasn't doubted, though, is his decision to switch putters.
The five-time PGA TOUR champ has never been one to fear change when it comes to a new grip or a new club -- hence, the original move to the belly putter six years ago and several flirtations with shorter models in the interim.
Bottom line, Cink needed an attitude adjustment after posting just one top-10 this season. And the best way to do that was to make something good happen.
"Just confidence was lacking," he explained. "There's not a statistic category for confidence. ... I'm not a stat watcher, but when I looked at them, every stat that was attached to putting, bunker shots, up and downs, all the putting stats were just not very good, not very exciting.
"So I decided to sort of start over and rebuild from the ground up."
Even while using the belly putter, Cink has practiced with a conventional-length putter from time to time in case the longer models are ever ruled illegal. He also wants to stay current with the short putter for situations like the one he finds himself in right now.
"It was an adjustment for the first couple of days, but I practiced so much (it feels good now)," Cink said. "I practiced putting more in the last three weeks than I have in a year, maybe even more leading up to this. Just really addressing my putting and trying to really work some issues out.
"Just overhaul the entire system."
The results speak for themselves. Through two rounds at the Memorial, Cink has used 54 putts -- including 25 in the first round as he shot a 4-under 68. At Colonial last week, he ranked 28th in putts per round and 18th in putts per green in regulation, so the change appears to have paid dividends.
"I don't have a lot of expectations,' Cink said. "The last couple of weeks, I've ... sort of revamped my whole approach to the game and sort of started over from scratch. I'm just trying to establish a baseline right now.
"I've played pretty well and hit a lot of really nice shots out there. I've also hit some bad shots. ... I'm just looking forward to the challenge this weekend.'
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