Cink brings Regions Traditions: Second Major in a row on the Champions Tour

Stewart Cink has crowned his strong season on the PGA TOUR Champions with the next major title: the 52-year-old won the Regions Traditions at Greystone Golf & Country Club (Birmingham, Alabama) by three strokes on Sunday. Cink played a 3-under-par 69 in the final round and finished the tournament at -18 (270). Behind him, Scott Hend (-15) and Colin Montgomerie (-13) took second and third place.

Following his victory at the Senior PGA Championship two weeks ago, Cink has thus also been successful at the second major of the season - and underlines his role as the defining figure of the Champions Tour season so far. The success also earned him the winner's check in the amount of 390,000 US dollars.

Here you can find the complete leaderboard of the Regions Traditions of the PGA Tour Champions.

Decision on the 11th and 12th holes

Cink started Sunday with a three-shot lead, but the final round was by no means a walk in the park. Montgomerie reduced the deficit in the meantime and was within touching distance before Cink countered decisively on the first holes of the back nine: Birdies on the 11th and 12th gave him breathing space again and extended his lead to four strokes.

Cink himself described the week as tough but successful: "This weekend was a bit bumpy. I'm really proud that I was able to stay in front," he said after the round.

Hend sets an exclamation mark with a sprint - Cink stays in front

The last serious attack came from Scott Hend. The Australian played himself back within striking distance with an energetic final spurt: an Eagle on the 13th and further Birdies allowed the gap to shrink at times. Hend finally brought the best round of the leading group into the clubhouse (65), but had to acknowledge that Cink found the right answers at the decisive moments - including an important Birdie on the way to the title.

Montgomerie, who finished third in the final standings, was unable to keep up the pressure on the final stretch and was left without a late birdie series. Third place is nevertheless an exclamation mark for the Scot: It is his best result on Tour for quite some time.

Second Major in a row - and a special home advantage

For Cink, the triumph is also significant in terms of sporting history: he is only the second player in two years to win the first two majors of the PGA TOUR Champions season - Ángel Cabrera did it last year. Cink himself is enjoying the moment: "It wasn't easy. But I was pretty resilient, I trusted what I had - and our match plan was good," he said.

The week was given added emotion by the location: Cink, who has roots in Alabama, spoke of a tournament "at home". "These are my roots - Alabama. This is where I learned the basics of golf," he explained, emphasizing the special atmosphere and familiar faces on the course.

Numbers, names, outlook

Cink celebrated his fourth win of the season with this success and now has eight titles on the PGA TOUR Champions. Behind the top four (Cink, Hend, Montgomerie, Søren Kjeldsen), Alex Čejka finished in the top 5 and Ernie Els in T8. Els also provided one of the eye-catchers of the day in the final round - including spectacular scoring moments on the back holes.

The Champions Tour continues next week at the Insperity Invitational in Texas. Cink will be the defending champion there - and will arrive as the man that hardly anyone can displace from the top this spring.