Power pairing of Stewart Cink and Padraig Harrington tied heading into weekend at US Senior Open
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Stewart Cink made up five shots over nine holes against Padraig Harrington in their head-to-head pairing at the U.S. Senior Open on Friday, leaving the major champions tied for the lead after their second rounds at the Broadmoor.
Both players head into the weekend at 6-under 134, though they got there much differently. Opening on the more difficult back nine, Harrington shot 31 to open his five-shot lead. Then, Cink shot his own 31 on the second nine to pull back into a tie.
Cink hit all 18 greens in regulation, making it 35 of 36 for the week. He called that stat overrated, especially at the Broadmoor, where the real test starts on the notoriously difficult-to-read greens that all cant away from a monument lurking above the course on Cheyenne Mountain.
'You don't want to be chipping downhill on this course, it's not a secret,' said the 52-year-old Cink, the 2009 British Open champion who is playing in his first U.S. Senior Open.
After Harrington shot 31 on the more difficult nine, then kept the lead at five with a birdie on the par-5 third, he was thinking there might be an opportunity to open a big lead heading into the weekend.
A pair of three-putts — one on the seventh and the other on the par-3 fourth green that has been slowed down to temper the severe slope — resulted in bogeys.
Cink hit his approach on the par-5 ninth to 45 feet and two-putted for birdie to get to 6 under. His first putt showed Harrington the line after the Irishman, the winner of the 2007 and '08 British and 2008 PGA Championship, had short-sided himself in a greenside bunker, and he made his 20-footer for birdie and the tie.
'I got a lovely read off Stewart. I don't think I would have given it as much break, so that was nice,' said Harrington, who won the U.S. Senior Open in 2022. 'They're the breaks you get when things are going well.'
Both players finished the round with dark clouds hovering, and the horn sounded right after they holed out, leading to a delay of about 60 minutes.
They finished the day two ahead of first-round co-leader Mark Hensby, whose afternoon round got delayed.
Y.E. Yang, the 2009 PGA champion, was still on the course at 2 under and a group of five with the same score were waiting to tee off.
Harrington and Cink, the only two players on the PGA Tour Champions who average 300 yards in driving distance, were well positioned to be playing together again to start the weekend.
'I love watching him play. I would hope that he probably feels similarly about me,' Cink said. 'We have mutual respect for each other. He's a world-class player and he's been doing it a long time. I would love it if we could go the distance here.'
___
AP golf:
https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
41 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Wimbledon 2025: Coco Gauff is just 21 but already thinking about what to do after tennis
Associated Press LONDON (AP) — To be clear, Coco Gauff didn't bring up the word 'star' during a recent interview with The Associated Press; the reporter did. So as Gauff began to answer a question about balancing her life as a professional athlete with her off-court interests, she caught herself repeating that term. 'I definitely didn't know how it would look like,' she began with a smile, 'before I got to be, I guess, a star — feels weird to call myself that — but I definitely did want to expand outside of tennis. Always. Since I was young.' She still is young, by just about any measure, and she is a really good tennis player — Gauff owns the Grand Slam titles and No. 2 ranking to prove it as she heads into Wimbledon, which begins Monday — but the 21-year-old American is also more than that. Someone unafraid to express her opinions about societal issues. Someone who connects with fans via social media. Someone who is the highest-paid female athlete in any sport, topping $30 million last year, according to with less than a third of that from prize money and most via deals with companies such as UPS, New Balance, Rolex and Barilla. Someone who recently launched her own management firm. And someone who wants to succeed in the business world long after she no longer swings a racket on tour. 'It's definitely something that I want to start to step up for post-career. Kind of start building that process, which is why I wanted to do it early. Because I didn't want to feel like I was playing catch-up at the end of my career,' said Gauff, who will face Dayana Yastremska in the first round at the All England Club on Tuesday. 'On the business side of things, it doesn't come as natural as tennis feels. I'm still learning, and I have a lot to learn about," Gauff said. "I've debated different things and what paths I wanted to take when it came to just stimulating my brain outside of the court, because I always knew that once I finished high school that I needed to put my brain into something else.' In a campaign announced this week by UPS, which first partnered with Gauff in 2023 before she won that year's U.S. Open, she connects with business coach Emma Grede — known for working with Kim Kardashian on Skims, and with Khloe Kardashian on Good American — to offer mentoring to three small-business owners. 'Coco plays a key role in helping us connect with those younger Gen-Z business owners — emerging or younger entrepreneurs,' Betsy Wilson, VP of digital marketing and brand activation at UPS, said in a phone interview. 'Obviously, she's very relevant in social media and in culture, and working with Coco helps us really connect with that younger group.' While Grede helped the entrepreneurs, Gauff also got the opportunity to pick up tips. 'It's really cool to learn from someone like her,' Gauff said. 'Whenever I feel like I'm ready to make that leap, I can definitely reach out to her for advice and things like that. ... This will help me right now and definitely in the long term.' ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis: in this topic
New York Times
44 minutes ago
- New York Times
Is the World's Best Squash Player Testing the Rules, or Is He Cheating?
Not long ago, an anonymous YouTuber known only as Quash Bad Squash reposted one of the strangest moments in the history of the sport. It's match ball in the finals of last year's British Open tournament, with a check for $26,600 on the line. The four-time world champion Ali Farag, an Egyptian with the physique of a pipe cleaner and the speed of Mercury, is about to lunge forward and hit a backhand. But as he tries to get past his opponent, a rising superstar and fellow countryman named Mostafa Asal, Mr. Farag does something baffling. He stops playing. Instead, he wheels around to look at Mr. Asal, as if he's momentarily stunned. 'Oh, my goodness gracious me!' shouts one of the commentators broadcasting live on the website SquashTV. 'What has he done?' shouts another. The referee isn't sure. So a second referee, whose job is to handle tough calls, looks at instant replay video footage to determine if Mr. Asal blocked his opponent — a no-no that would cost him the point. The second referee watches the sequence a few times and sees nothing wrong. Point and match to Mr. Asal. He buries his face in his hands, overwhelmed with joy. For everyone else, a mystery remained: Why did Mr. Farag stop playing? Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Wimbledon 2025: Coco Gauff is just 21 but already thinking about what to do after tennis
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, right, and Coco Gauff of United States dance during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Coco Gauff of the U.S. holds the trophy while being interviewed after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, right, and Coco Gauff of United States dance during a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Coco Gauff of the U.S. holds the trophy while being interviewed after winning the final match of the French Tennis Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) LONDON (AP) — To be clear, Coco Gauff didn't bring up the word 'star' during a recent interview with The Associated Press; the reporter did. So as Gauff began to answer a question about balancing her life as a professional athlete with her off-court interests, she caught herself repeating that term. 'I definitely didn't know how it would look like,' she began with a smile, 'before I got to be, I guess, a star — feels weird to call myself that — but I definitely did want to expand outside of tennis. Always. Since I was young.' Advertisement She still is young, by just about any measure, and she is a really good tennis player — Gauff owns the Grand Slam titles and No. 2 ranking to prove it as she heads into Wimbledon, which begins Monday — but the 21-year-old American is also more than that. Someone unafraid to express her opinions about societal issues. Someone who connects with fans via social media. Someone who is the highest-paid female athlete in any sport, topping $30 million last year, according to with less than a third of that from prize money and most via deals with companies such as UPS, New Balance, Rolex and Barilla. Someone who recently launched her own management firm. And someone who wants to succeed in the business world long after she no longer swings a racket on tour. 'It's definitely something that I want to start to step up for post-career. Kind of start building that process, which is why I wanted to do it early. Because I didn't want to feel like I was playing catch-up at the end of my career,' said Gauff, who will face Dayana Yastremska in the first round at the All England Club on Tuesday. Advertisement 'On the business side of things, it doesn't come as natural as tennis feels. I'm still learning, and I have a lot to learn about," Gauff said. "I've debated different things and what paths I wanted to take when it came to just stimulating my brain outside of the court, because I always knew that once I finished high school that I needed to put my brain into something else.' In a campaign announced this week by UPS, which first partnered with Gauff in 2023 before she won that year's U.S. Open, she connects with business coach Emma Grede — known for working with Kim Kardashian on Skims, and with Khloe Kardashian on Good American — to offer mentoring to three small-business owners. 'Coco plays a key role in helping us connect with those younger Gen-Z business owners — emerging or younger entrepreneurs,' Betsy Wilson, VP of digital marketing and brand activation at UPS, said in a phone interview. 'Obviously, she's very relevant in social media and in culture, and working with Coco helps us really connect with that younger group.' While Grede helped the entrepreneurs, Gauff also got the opportunity to pick up tips. Advertisement 'It's really cool to learn from someone like her,' Gauff said. 'Whenever I feel like I'm ready to make that leap, I can definitely reach out to her for advice and things like that. ... This will help me right now and definitely in the long term.' ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis:
