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Familiarity hasn’t bred any contempt for Stewart Cink, certainly not as far as the 47-year-old’s relationship with Harbour Town Golf Links is concerned, as he continued his long-time love affair with the South Carolina course in firing an eight-under-par 63 that left him a stroke adrift of Australian Cameron Smith in the opening round of the RBC Heritage.
For Shane Lowry, however, a round that promised much after starting with back-to-back birdies (on the 10th and 11th) lost its way for a time only for a closing birdie to salvage a one-under-par 70; while Graeme McDowell, a past champion, struggled with his game and signed for a 73 after a topsy-turvy opening round that featured four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey at the 12th where he was in the rough off the tee, found a greenside bunker with his approach and ran up a six.
Lowry – coming in off a tied-21st finish in Augusta – covered the front nine in 33, pitching in on the ninth for birdie, but then suffered three bogeys on his homeward run (on the first, third and seventh) with a lone birdie on the Par-5 second hole until his 12-footer for birdie on the ninth, his closing hole.
A winner back in 2000 and again in 2004, Cink – whose only career Major win came in the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry – was back on favoured terrain and again firing his way into contention.
Although starting his round with a water ball into the lake on the 10th and running up a double-bogey, Cink recovered with seven birdies and an eagle (on the fifth, his 14th): “I feel so relaxed here. I think it’s the vibe. Is it the week after the Masters vibe, or is it the Hilton Head vibe? Maybe a little bit of both. Coming after the grindhouse that is Augusta National can be, especially this year, conditions were pretty tough, it’s nice to come here and relax a little bit, [to] exhale,” said Cink.
The 63 was a career-low – later bettered by Smith, who included a hole-out from a bunker on the 17th and finished his round with a close-range putt for birdie for a 62 – for Cink. “It really was a very smooth round once I got past the obstacle of the first hole. It was probably one of the worst opening drives I ever hit in my life . . . you’d think that’s a bad way to start, but in a way it’s a wake-up call. After playing the Masters and being super focused and intense, to come and be lazy on the first shot was kind of like a slap in the face and it got my attention.”
Smith, in a rich vein of form of late and off the back of a top-10 at the Masters, continued that run with a hugely impressive display of ball-striking.
England’s Matt Wallace, third in the Texas Open a fortnight ago and 34th in the Masters as he pursues his bid to claim a PGA Tour card, opened with a 65 and, like Cink, created the “vibe” as a reason for his good play. “I like the vibe, the chilled vibe,” he said.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow and Leona Maguire continued their strong starts to the season in the Lotte Championship in Hawaii where Philippines teenager Yuka Saso and American Brittany Altomare had shared the first round lead with 64s. Meadow opened with a 67 and Maguire a bogey-free 68.
Among the early wave of the second round, Maguire was on fire and claimed birdies at the seventh and ninth to turn in 34 (six under for the tournament).
As New Zealand’s Lydia Ko negotiated a route to the top of the leaderboard, Maguire’s upward trajectory also continued on the back nine with further birdies on the 10th and 14th to get to four under on her round and eight under for the tournament and into a share of third place at that stage.
The 26-year-old Co Cavan golfer has made a superb start to the LPGA Tour season – making the cut in all four previous tournaments, with a best-finish of tied-6th in the LPGA Drive On Championship – and heads into the final two rounds very much in contention.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Alejandro Canizares shot a five-under-par 67 to take the first-round lead in the Austrian Open at Atzenbrugg, a shot clear of a quartet that included former world number one Martin Kaymer. Paul Dunne (73) was the best of the Irish contingent with Cormac Sharvin (75), Gavin Moynihan (77) and Jonny Caldwell (80) in a fight to survive the midway cut.