Cink ignoring the pressure of the Ryder Cup

MEDINAH, Ill. -- The way Stewart Cink sees it, he has nothing to lose.

The Ryder Cup might have a chokehold on other players with the day of reckoning barely 72 hours away. Not Cink, though, as he fired a 4-under 68 on Thursday that left him two strokes off the lead at the PGA Championship.

Cink sits 12th in the Ryder Cup standings, two spots out of automatically qualifying for the U.S. Team that will compete at the K Club next month. He’s played on the last two squads, so he knows only too well what he’d be missing in Ireland.

So you can’t ignore what Cink called the “giant elephant in the room.” At the same time, he says the best way for him to handle the pressure is to just go out and play.

The strategy worked well last week at The INTERNATIONAL where Cink finished fifth to move up eight spots. He needs to place solo ninth or better at Medinah to have a shot to move into the top 10.

Not that Cink is counting or anything. Honest.

“I think it would be more accurate to say the Ryder Cup is off my mind,” Cink said. “Because where I am, No. 12, I don't have anything to lose here. … If I go up into the top 10 then I'm an automatic qualifier and that would be great. But from 12, I don't think you can drop far enough down where you're not really at least somewhat in the mix for a possible pick. So I'm just playing to play the PGA Championship.

“I feel like I'm in a pretty good position as far as the Ryder Cup for it to be as far from my mind as possible.”

Cink has reason to be optimistic, too, as he seeks his first major championship title. He played well at Medinah in the 1999 PGA Championship, tying for third. Not to mention, he has also posted three top-five finishes in his last five starts.

“I really played well,” the lanky Georgian said. “I think I probably could have got a couple more birdies out there, but any time you’re in the 60s in a major, it doesn’t matter where you are, you’re pretty happy.

“It was a good start, solid. I saw a lot of things in my game today that I need to see the rest of the week to go on a big run.”

Tom Lehman might have seen some things he liked, too -- had he not been playing Medinah in the opposite draw on Thursday. Cink, though, said he would never ask the U.S. Ryder Cup captain what he thought about his chances.

Cink flew to Chicago on Sunday with Lehman and several other players, though, and he did gain a little insight on the trip.

“He did mention to me that he was really hoping that I would move into the top 10,” Cink said. “That's really about all he said. He really wants me to qualify for the team.

Stewart Cink is on the outside looking in at the guaranteed Ryder Cup positions (Getty Images)

“I think I understand what he means by that; that he doesn't want to be forced to make me a pick, because he's probably got somebody else in mind ahead of me I guess.”

Cink started on the back nine Thursday and made the turn in 33 after sinking birdie putts of 2, 5 and 20 feet. He fought with his driver early on the front side, but moving the ball back in his stance seemed to do the trick.

“It’s not going to be a par shooters dream out here like at a U.S. Open,” said Cink, who finished one stroke out of a playoff at Southern Hills in 2001. “There’s going to be birdies made. So you need to have the frame of mind where you’re going to be aggressive and get what you can instead of just trying to tread water.

“Driving the ball well is important. I made a couple of adjustments in my game today in my swing that a couple of years I might not have been able to make, but I had the confidence to go ahead and make (them).

“The game is played be human beings, and we’re not perfect, so we have to adjust sometimes.”