Cink Outduals Watson in Playoff to Win the British Open

Sports Betting News - July 19th, 2009 - Written by Bruce

Four rounds of golf was not enough to decide the 2009 British Open Championship. It took a four hole playoff between Stewart Cink and Tom Watson to decide this year's champion. Ultimately it was the much younger Steward Cink who prevailed to win his first ever major championship. The story for the last few days had been the 59 year old Watson and his remarkable play this week. Watson was the leader heading into today, which made him the oldest person to ever lead after three rounds of a major. Had he won today he would've become the oldest to ever win a major championship by over eleven years. On the last hole of the 4th round Watson looked to be on the brink of making history as he had a nine foot putt to win the championship. He was unable to make the putt which set up the playoff. Stewart Cink had already made a lengthy birdie putt on the same 18th hole which put him at -2 for the tournament which ended up tying Watson and forcing the two man playoff.

Stewart Cink was simply the better golfer on Sunday as he shot a one under 69 compared to Tom Watson's two over 72 which tied them at -2 after 4 rounds. The four hole playoff began on the 5th hole and saw Cink get out to a one stroke lead. On the next hole, the par 3 6th, Watson was wild off the tee which set up a blind 2nd shot to the green. Showing the wonderful touch which has made him such a legendary golfer, Watson hit a beautiful shot which set up about a ten foot par putt which he calmly made. Stewart Cink also parred the hole which gave him a one shot lead with two holes left in the playoff. They next played the long par 5 17th which is where Watson's magical run this week came to an end. He drove his ball into the extremely thick left rough and when he tried to his next shot the ball moved only a few feet. Watson went on to make a double bogey 7 on the hole while Cink made yet another birdie. This gave Stewart Cink a four shot lead going into the final playoff hole. With another birdie on the par 4 18th, Cink won the playoff by six strokes making him the 2009 British Open Champion.

Finishing one shot out of the playoff was Lee Westwood and Chris Wood who ended their British Open at -1 in a tie for 3rd. Even though Tom Watson came up just short at the end, he put on an amazing performance which will be remembered for years to come. The nine foot putt he missed on the 72nd hole is the shot that will be seen as what prevented him from making history today. Once he missed that putt it would have been a very tough task to regroup and find a way to beat Cink who played so well down the stretch in his round. Stewart Cink has been a world class golfer for many years and had finished in the top three in major championships multiple times before. Now he is among the prestigious group of golfers to have won a major. Congratulations to Stewart Cink for winning the 2009 British Open Championship.