Stewart Cink stands between Tiger Woods and a trophy in World Match Play Championship

Chris Baldwin,
Contributor

MARANA, Ariz. - No one expects Stewart Cink to beat Tiger Woods in the 36-hole championship match of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship today. Check that - almost no one.

"I'm pulling for Stewart Cink," said a bellhop at the Omni Tucson National Resort. "He's such a nice guy."

But do you think Cink can do it? "Well, I don't know," the bellhop said. "It's going to be tough. Maybe."

Okay, Cink almost has his bellhop. That's how it is in The Machine versus Mr. Manners.

Cink and Woods actually pulled off similar dominance in the 36-hole Saturday that set the stage for today. You could even argue that Cink - the 22nd-ranked golfer in the world who hasn't won in his last 85 tournaments - was more impressive than Woods - the No. 1 who's won the last five tournaments he's entered dating back to the third FedEx Cup event last September.

Cink took out Angel Cabrera 3-and-2 in the morning quarters and knocked around Justin Leonard 4-and-2 in the afternoon semis. Woods banished K.J. Choi 3-and-2 in the quarters and eliminated defending champ Henrik Stenson - who'd won his last 10 match play matches until running into Woods - 2-up in the semis.

Cink rolled Leonard with a match play 29 (not everything is putted out) on the front nine. Woods needed an off-balance bunker save and a 14-foot putt on No. 17 to take the lead for good on Stenson.

Of course, Cink himself might be the first to tell you that means about as much as where Paris Hilton will be in L.A. during the match.

"He's the best that's ever lived in golf," Cink said. "It's just fun to get a front-row seat to that. Watching him play is fun. And you don't get a better view than when you're playing with him. I'm a golf fan too, not just a player."

There's no doubt that Cink's been a more visible presence than Tiger off the course. If you've seen Woods in Tucson this week away from the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain, you either posses x-ray vision or a multi-millionaire's checkbook access.

Tiger's not meeting bellhops.

He did wake up at 3:45 a.m. Saturday morning, an hour earlier than he planned to begin prep for his 36-hole day. So what's Tiger Woods do at 4 in the morning?

"Watch SportsCenter," he said.

Perhaps Choi watched a little too much ESPN or The Golf Channel - which both include a heavy dose of Tiger Woods' birdie replays - before his early morning tee time with Tiger. Something seemed to unnerve the eighth-ranked player in the world. Choi missed six putts under 15 on the front nine that could have given him the lead.

Once Woods chipped in for eagle on No. 10, the match was essentially over. He won three of the next four holes.

Having played with Woods before in stroke play final round pairings, Cink is just glad that kind of stuff doesn't carry over here.

"It seems like, more often than not, you're trailing Tiger by eight or 10 shots even though you're in the last group," he said. "There's usually a pretty good race for second going on."

Cink's already guaranteed himself at least second in the Arizona desert. Today, it's more about the question of whether a player who calls himself "an underachiever" can shock the game's ultimate achiever.

Stewart Cink's Tiger history

The 34-year-old Cink still remembers beating Woods in a match at Druid Hills Golf Club in Atlanta when he was a college senior and Woods was a college freshman at Stanford. Of course, back then there everyone expected Cink to be something big too. Many observers declared him better than David Duval coming out of Georgia Tech.

Of course, it's been 13 long years since then. And Cink's still best remembered for missing an 18-inch putt (it would be a no-doubt gimmie in match play) to get into a playoff in the 2001 U.S. Open. In all, Cink three putted from 12-feet on that final hole.

"I consider myself to be an underachiever so far," said Cink, whose putter has actually carried him to a 5-0 match play run this week . "I don't believe I've lived up to doing the things I should have been able to do. I'm still waiting for it to happen. I'm patient.

"But it's been a long time."

Within the PGA Tour fraternity, Cink's now probably known most for being a nice guy. When he was interviewed on the Golf Channel Friday, he made a point to say hello to veteran PGA Tour caddie Gregg Ritta who's undergoing chemo for a brain tumor, on the chance that Ritta might be listening.

"You almost can't feel too bad about losing to the guy," Leonard said, having won one hole off Cink all day.

Tiger Woods' head games in match play

It's a good bet Tiger would feel bad about losing to Cink.

While other golfers dropped by the wayside early in the grueling 36-hole back-to-back quarters and semis Saturday - including Woody Austin (a 2-up loss to Stenson), Vijay Singh (1-up to Leonard) - Woods kept playing head games with himself. He got even more demonstrably upset after bad shots than he usually does (and Tiger's not exactly known for hiding anger on the course).

He cursed himself out more. By design.

"I tried to get as frustrated and mad as I possibly could at times to get myself fired up and back into the match," said Woods, who never trailed once in 36 holes. "All it takes is just one mistake and the tide can switch and you don't ever want to let that tide switch."

Tide? Most people seem to think Tiger Woods looks more like a tidal wave headed right for good guy Stewart Cink.

February 24, 2008

Chris Baldwin keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation.