'Steady round of golf' pushes Joe Durant to Cologuard Classic victory over Stewart Cink

After the fifth hole of Sunday's final round of the Cologuard Classic by Exact Sciences, Stewart Cink was on course to win his first PGA Tour Champions tournament until things went right for him.

"Right" as in directionally — not "went right" as in playing well, like his first two rounds at La Paloma Country Club in Tucson that gave him a score of 11 under par and a two-shot lead entering Sunday's third and final day of competition.

A slew of shots that missed right of the fairways and greens cost Cink, and Joe Durant overcame a four-shot deficit to win the Cologuard Classic — and the Conquistador helmet. Durant trailed Cink by two strokes heading into Sunday and wound up winning the event by two shots, finishing 13 under par. 

Durant edged tournament host Jerry Kelly, Charles Schwab Cup leader Steven Alker and 2021 Cologuard Classic champion Kevin Sutherland.

It's Durant's first victory at the Cologuard Classic and first tournament win since he won the Ally Challenge in 2021. Durant earned $330,000 for this Sunday's win, which had a $2.2 million total purse. He now has five wins on PGA Tour Champions circuit — four of them he trailed entering the final round. 

"It felt good," Durant said. "I'll be 60 (years old) in a month or so and you just wonder how many more you have in the tank. I was just trying really hard to play well today. When you put yourself in position, you want to play well.

"I was fortunate. I played a real nice, steady round of golf — didn't make too many mistakes. Just very thankful to get the win."  

The closing round was business as usual for the 50-year-old Cink, who also maintains PGA Tour status, until he bogeyed on the seventh hole, a 171-yard par 3. The following 11 holes? Three bogeys, one triple-bogey on the 13th hole, five pars and two birdies. Cink's 2 over par round — 9 under for the tournament — knocked him down to finish tied for seventh with seven other players, including 2022 Cologuard Classic champion Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Cink's approach shot on the 13th hole, a 417-yard par 4, missed right of the green and got buried in dead grass behind a tree stump. His next shot ricocheted off the stump and landed in a dirt wash near the green, which led to an unplayable lie, forcing Cink to take a drop. His only triple-bogey of the round spelled trouble for Cink. 

"It's easy to miss left on that hole and that pin was really far left, so left was really bad," Cink said.

"I think in my mind I just had a little bit of protection against the left there in the swing and the ball just kind of got going a little right, and there was some wind already left to right that we planned for, but obviously you can't miss it right, either," Cink said. "It's a pretty tight shot, but it was a pitching wedge, so I was going almost dead at it. I had a good target, I had a good mindset on the shot and just the execution was bad.

"Then it led to execution being bad on the next shot and then not that great of a chip, and then to miss a nine-footer, that's how you make a triple-bogey from the fairway."

Cink felt a shift in momentum around the seventh hole when he "felt the wind change when I was over the ball and I had just hit it and I didn't stop even though I kind of had some doubt."

"I don't know why I let that blindside me. I hit a poor shot, ended up making bogey there. It's not the end of the world, but that kind of blindsided me and I just wasn't myself the rest of the day," Cink said. "It was was kind of a gut punch out there. I really wanted to win this tournament really bad and I was playing great and I just kind of fell apart, hit a bunch of poor shots. And Joe was solid all day like he always is."

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If Cink had to lose to anyone, it was Durant, who Cink called "one of my best friends for a long time." 

"I was tickled just to be able to play with him in the final round," Cink said. "Obviously I would've rather have played great and celebrated with him in a different way, but we're still going to celebrate tonight."

Cink also hit his tee shot on the 15th hole (par 4) on the cart path and out of bounds on the 16th hole (par 5) for back-to-back bogeys. Coupled with Durant's eagle on the 11th hole, which was subsequent to a bogey on the 10th hole, Cink's problematic round opened the door for Durant, who parred the final seven holes to win.  

"Going through my routine, going through the process and just sticking to that, trying not to pay too much attention to what's going on around," Durant said. "I think that's probably one of the biggest weapons I have is I try to play my own game and just try to hit fairways, hit greens, just keep giving myself opportunities.

"Coming down the stretch, that's really all I did: I just kept hitting greens and, fortunately, my lag-putting was very good today and I had a lot of tap-ins. I was very happy for that, because I was shaky on the short ones yesterday, for sure."

When Durant closed in on his first win at the Cologuard Classic, a tournament that spreads awareness for colorectal cancer screening, he had one person on his mind: Lee Stewart, Durant's nephew, "who was like my little brother," who died from cancer in August.

"I was thinking about him all day today and I just want to make him proud," Durant said. 

Added Durant: "All during the round I was kind of reflecting on just thinking about things we used to laugh about and do together and things.

"His spirit was certainly with me today and I wanted to make him proud and I hope I did today."

Chip shots: 

• Former Arizona Wildcat Ted Purdy shot 9 over par in three rounds to finish 75th on the leaderboard. Purdy was even on Sunday. 
• David Toms, last year's Cologuard Classic champion, finished tied for 54th and carded an even tournament. 
• Mario Tiziani had the only hole-in-one at the Cologuard Classic this year. Tiziani aced the 17th hole par 3 on Saturday. He was 2 over par for the tournament and was tied for 61st place.   
• The Cologuard Classic raised $50,000 for colorectal cancer screening efforts on its three "Drive To Know" holes, which donated money for every tee shot that landed on the fairway. 
• The next scheduled event for PGA Tour Champions is the Hoag Classic at Newport Beach Country Club in Newport Beach, California from March 22-24. 

Photos: Joe Durant comes from behind to win the Cologuard Classic