'One Of The Best Rounds I’ve Played As A Professional Golfer' - Stewart Cink Storms To First Senior Major Victory

Stewart Cink fired a final round nine-under par 63 to take the Senior PGA Championship by six strokes at The Concession Golf Club.

The American started the final day one back of overnight leader Keith Horne but Cink notched seven birdies and an eagle to coast to victory in Florida. It marks the 52-year-old’s first Senior Major title in the 86th edition of the Championship.

Cink’s scintillating final round diminished any ambiguity surrounding the result, with the 63 also a new course record at The Concession. His 19-under par winning total was also just one behind the tournament record.

“It’s really satisfying to win my first Major on the PGA Tour Champions," he said.

“Today was just one of the best rounds I’ve played as a professional golfer. It was just really good.”

The former Open Champion wasted no time in hunting down the lead on Sunday. A birdie at the par-3 fourth ignited the stellar showing, before an eagle-birdie-birdie finish to the front nine ascended him into the outright lead, which he would not relinquish.

Cink would not even drop a shot coming in, with four more birdies on the back nine cementing his status atop the leaderboard as a runaway winner.

He chipped superbly using the left-hand-low method, another golfer who implements the same technique won on the PGA Tour in Matt Fitzpatrick, certainly a win for the drill turned in-game grip.

There was little the rest of the field could do to subdue Cink’s brilliance, as he eased to victory, but Cink’s meticulous and grounded mindset aided him in not getting carried away when in the lead on Sunday.

“I stayed in the present. I didn’t let myself get ahead. I just kept playing the shots, disciplined shot after disciplined shot, and executing those shots well," he said.

54-hole leader Keith Horne, who has two European Senior Tour wins to his name, held on for as long as he could, with one birdie and one bogey on the first nine holes, but after Cink’s hot streak around the turn, the tournament was all-but over.

The South African ultimately fell back into a tie for fifth after two bogeys in his final three.

Fellow American Ben Crane was Cink’s closets competitor, as he shot a final round four-under 68 to secure solo second. The Australian duo of Scott Hend and Stephen Allan ended two strokes further adrift at 11-under for the week in a tie for third.

Runner-up Crane bogeyed the last but held on to second place on his own and finished off a commendable week in his first Senior Major.

“I played great golf, so I don’t mind getting beat," he said.

“It couldn’t have been more rewarding, encouraging, fun. I don’t get any more excited than that.”

Cink did not grasp the lead until the 61st hole of the Championship despite being a presence on the leaderboard all week long following 69-67-70 in the opening three rounds.

But once he was out in front, he never looked back, and while others were jostling for position, he took the tournament by the scruff of the neck and was rampant on route to an emphatic victory.

Cink’s first Senior Major is his third win of the calendar year, after victories in Hawaii and California earlier on in 2026.

His career PGA Tour Champions wins now extends to seven, all since August of 2024, to go alongside eight PGA Tour triumphs and the one Major at the Open Championship in 2009 at Turnberry.

“It’s hard to compare the two (Open and Senior PGA). My body felt different then because I was 36, and now I’m 52, but the level of satisfaction and validation feels the same," he said.

This Senior PGA is yet another showpiece for Cink’s magnificent career that now spans three decades. When he is on form, no matter who the competition, he is hard to beat.

Further down the leaderboard, Pat Perez produced a fantastic week in his first start since leaving LIV golf, finishing T5 at eight-under.

Major winners Zach Johnson and Padraig Harrington as well as Miguel Angel Jimenez tied for eighth one stroke further back at seven- under.

Thammanoon Sriroj, who played his way into the final pairing on Sunday, swiftly ejected by doubling the first and bogeying the second, eventually posting a 76 to fall into a tie for 12th .

Henrik Stenson, another former Open Champion who began a new chapter in his career this week, ended T47 at one-over par following on from his relegation from LIV golf last year.

Senior PGA Championship leaderboard

1 Stewart Cink -19

2 Ben Crane -13

T3 Scott Hend -11

T3 Steve Allan -11

T5 Steven Alker -8

T5 Pat Perez -8

T5 Keith Horne -8

T8 Zach Johnson -7

T8 Padraig Harrington -7

T8 Miguel Angel Jimenez -7

T8 Greg Owen -7