{"id":2223,"date":"2012-01-11T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=2223"},"modified":"2012-01-11T01:22:46","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T06:22:46","slug":"a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past months, Inspiring Athletes has brought you several interviews with some of the biggest names on the PGA Tour. Many of these athletes are participating in a forthcoming book about golf and integrity called Life in the Fairway<\/em>. Some of those to be prominently featured include Jonathan Byrd<\/a>, Ben Crane<\/a>, Aaron Baddeley<\/a>, Kevin Streelman<\/a>, Webb Simpson<\/a>, Bernhard Langer and D.J. Brigman.<\/p>\n

Stewart Cink is another one who will be lending his wealth of knowledge regarding the topic of integrity. Cink has made a name for himself with six PGA Tour victories including the 2009 Open Championship. He’s also become quite popular on Twitter<\/a>. In fact, he is the most followed PGA golfer on the popular social media site with over 1.1 million followers.<\/p>\n

But most importantly to Cink is what people see in him as a man of faith, devoted husband and loving father. In this sneak peek at his contributions to Life in the Fairway<\/em>, Cink reveals why he loves the game of golf, how it teaches him integrity, what constitutes the perfect swing and what keeps him from achieving it:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Why do you love the game of golf?<\/p>\n

Stewart Cink: Golf is so difficult to master. It feels like the better you get, the farther you are away from perfection. A beginner gets so excited when he hits the ball in the air or maybe hits a nice bunker shot. A player who has won major championships doesn\u2019t get that excited about those shots anymore. It takes a lot more to excite you. The closer you get to perfection, the more difficult it becomes. That\u2019s what draws me to golf. It\u2019s such a challenge.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are some things we can learn about integrity from the game of golf?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Stewart Cink takes practice swings at the 2011 Crowne Plaza Invitational (Photo by Chad Bonham)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cink: I just think the game of golf teaches you so much about yourself like who you really are and what you\u2019re made of. It puts you in situations where you\u2019re tempted to kick the ball out from behind a tree. Not on the PGA Tour, but growing up as a kid, when there\u2019s nobody out there watching and you\u2019re having the round of your life and you hit that crooked ball off the last tee box and it ends up stymied right behind a tree. You think it isn\u2019t tempting to kick it out of there and say, \u201cI found it!\u201d The game has an unwritten rule that tells golfers not to do that stuff. In that way, it tells you so much about who you are. That\u2019s a rules situation, but again, it also teaches you a lot about yourself and how you perform under pressure, when the heat\u2019s on. It tells you about how you\u2019re going to perform in other areas of your life when the heat\u2019s on. The vast majority of golfers don\u2019t go on to play golf as a profession, but they do go onto other professions where there will heat on them from time to time. Some people choke under pressure. If you have that as part of your character\u2014that you don\u2019t perform well under pressure\u2014it\u2019s really important for you to know that. The game teaches you about that.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Can you share a story when you\u2019re integrity was tested on the golf course?<\/p>\n

Cink: I remember one time when I was in college, I was leading a tournament with three or four holes to play. I hit a ball into the bunker. In college, there are no crowds watching. I was right near the lead, maybe two or three in front. The bunker was pretty deep. No one could see me down there. I took my back swing and I brushed the sand with my club accidentally. I knew I did because I saw the impression in the sand that the club left. That\u2019s a two shot penalty. No one saw it. There\u2019s no way anyone else could\u2019ve seen it because I was below the level of the green and there was nothing behind me but trees and woods. There were no spectators. I was the only who saw that happen. I had no choice but to call myself a two-shot penalty. That\u2019s the way the rules are. I ended up winning anyway. I think I might have tied for first in that one, but there were no playoffs. I ended up getting the win but that was a situation where I had to report it because of the game of golf. The game asks that you report that kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How would describe your perfect swing?<\/p>\n

Cink: The feel is in the release. Physically, in the swing, the release is when the club head passes the hands and you can only swing the club in a fully released kind of way when you\u2019re at total peace with where the result might end up. You\u2019ve got trouble to the left and right every day now on these courses. If you can swing with a calm and peaceful state of mind and you feel that release right at the perfect time without worry, that\u2019s my perfect swing.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What are the things that keep you from achieving the perfect swing?<\/p>\n

Cink: I have the most difficulty when I struggle with my wife. That\u2019s the hardest part about our profession\u2014maintaining a good relationship with your wife. My kids have grown up knowing nothing other than me being gone all the time and playing in golf tournaments. That\u2019s what they know. But my wife didn\u2019t experience that until she was in her 20s and she was already set in a certain way and all of the sudden she\u2019s like, \u201cWhoa! You mean you\u2019re going to be gone 30 weeks a year?\u201d There are great benefits to being a professional golfer but that\u2019s one of the tough things. It\u2019s really hard to maintain a good relationship with the wife. I\u2019ve got teenage boys and there are always things happening at home that try our patience. When I can\u2019t be there, it stresses both of us out. There are plenty of times when we argue and fight about things. That bothers me. It does. It makes it really hard to be at my best. Being a professional, I have to set it aside and go out and do my best on the golf course. I can always come back and discuss things later on, but it is tough. No matter how well you think you\u2019re doing at setting it aside, it\u2019s always around and it\u2019s easy to go back and think about that stuff if something\u2019s bothering you.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Who are some guys that you respect on the PGA Tour for their personal integrity?<\/p>\n

Cink: When I first got out on tour, the guys I looked up to were Bernhard Langer and Tom Lehman and Larry Mize. Even before I\u2019d become a believer, I understood their faith and integrity. That was something I was drawn to.<\/p>\n

Keep up with Stewart Cink on Twitter by visiting HERE<\/a>.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Over the past months, Inspiring Athletes has brought you several interviews with some of the biggest names on the PGA Tour. Many of these athletes are participating in a forthcoming book about golf and integrity called Life in the Fairway. Some of those to be prominently featured…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,386,382,5],"tags":[101,94,815,816,89,927,542,633,81,928,78],"class_list":["post-2223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-athletes","category-golf","category-qa","category-sports-features","tag-aaron-baddeley","tag-ben-crane","tag-bernhard-langer","tag-jonathan-byrd","tag-kevin-streelman","tag-larry-mize","tag-pga-tour","tag-stewart-cink","tag-tom-lehman","tag-twitter","tag-webb-simpson"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Over the past months, Inspiring Athletes has brought you several interviews with some of the biggest names on the PGA Tour. Many of these athletes are participating in a forthcoming book about golf and integrity called Life in the Fairway. Some of those to be prominently featured…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-11T13:00:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-11T06:22:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/01\/StewartCink_CPI-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chad Bonham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink - Inspiring Athletes","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink - Inspiring Athletes","og_description":"Click “Like” to share this with your friends! Over the past months, Inspiring Athletes has brought you several interviews with some of the biggest names on the PGA Tour. Many of these athletes are participating in a forthcoming book about golf and integrity called Life in the Fairway. Some of those to be prominently featured…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html","og_site_name":"Inspiring Athletes","article_published_time":"2012-01-11T13:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-01-11T06:22:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/01\/StewartCink_CPI-225x300.jpg"}],"author":"Chad Bonham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html","name":"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink - Inspiring Athletes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/01\/StewartCink_CPI-225x300.jpg","datePublished":"2012-01-11T13:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-11T06:22:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/01\/StewartCink_CPI-225x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/files\/2012\/01\/StewartCink_CPI-225x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2012\/01\/a-conversation-with-pga-golfer-stewart-cink.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A conversation with PGA golfer Stewart Cink"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/","name":"Inspiring Athletes","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Chad Bonham","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/#\/schema\/person\/95c3e9443bb9bfa81645d8daef1193c1","name":"Chad Bonham","description":"Chad has been working in mass media for over 20 years. Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}