Florence native Stewart Cink continued his domination of the PGA Tour Champions by winning the Hoag Classic on Sunday.
Cink carded his second 5-under 66 of the tournament in the final round. In between, he put himself in position to win with a 9-under 62 on Saturday and wound up reaching the second-lowest 54-hole score in the 30-year history of the Hoag Classic.
At 19-under par, Cink finished four strokes ahead of Ernie Els and Zach Johnson at the Newport Beach Country Club in Newport Beach, California.
“Kept my foot on the pedal,” Cink said. “We played very aggressively, but we choose targets that are very smart and efficient. Not reckless.”
Cink’s first-place check was for $330,000.
Cink won for the second time in four events this season. He started the year with a victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship on Jan. 24. He posted a second- and a sixth-place finish in the events between his victories.
Last year, Cink won the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Nov. 16 which lifted him to the PGA Tour Champions’ 2025 title. He received the Jack Nicklaus Award as the PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year for the 2025 season for the older-than-50 golf circuit.
“I feel like I’m playing better and have more control over my ball than I’ve ever had,” Cink said. “When I was even in the top 10 in the world rankings for a long time, I didn’t even drive it like I’ve driven it the last six, seven months.
“I have so much more command over my driver than I’ve ever had. I didn’t have that when I played on the PGA Tour. I was always kind of like, ‘Oh boy, where’s this one going?’ But not right now.”
The 52-year-old Cink has won six PGA Tour Champions tournaments.
An alumnus of Bradshaw High School in Florence, Cink also has eight victories on the PGA Tour, where he’s made 690 starts. Cink’s victories include the 2009 Open Championship, where he defeated Tom Watson in a playoff to win the claret jug.