Major Champion Hits Rare PGA Tour Milestone at Valspar Championship

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Stewart Cink during the second round of the 2024 Valspar Championship.

Coming into the 2024 edition of the PGA Tour‘s Valspar Championship, Stewart Cink wasn’t expected to contend at the famed Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida. 

But following an opening-round 69 and a second-round 67, the 50-year-old found himself tied for the lead at 6-under after 36 holes, marking the seventh time in his career that he’s held at least a share of the lead at the midway point.

On a more historic note, simply by making the weekend at all, Cink became just the eighth player in PGA Tour history with 500 made cuts, an accomplishment the 2009 Open Championship winner wasn’t even aware he’d reached until someone told him. 

“I didn’t know about that until somebody told me a little while ago, but I guess milestone would be, you know, appropriate language to use,” Cink stated after his second round on March 22.

“I’ve been playing out here a long time, and I’ve had some ups and downs, but a lot of ups. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself. To make 500 cuts, I think that’s pretty respectable, I guess. I know a lot of players are celebratory when they reach 500 events. So to be able to put that number on your cuts made, I’m proud of that.”

If Cink, who currently splits his time between the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions, can win the Valspar, he’d make a little more history as he’d become just the fifth player since 1975 to win a PGA Tour event after turning 50. 

Stewart Cink Is Just the 8th Player in PGA Tour History With 500 Made Cuts

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500 cuts made 👏

Co-leader @StewartCink has reason to be proud @ValsparChamp.

7:38 pm · 22 Mar 2024

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After making cut No. 499 at the Sony Open in his 2024 PGA Tour debut, Cink missed out on No. 500 by missing the weekend at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.

But in career start No. 677 at the Valspar, Cink sealed the deal. As mentioned, he’s only the eighth in history to achieve the rare milestone. Here’s a quick look at the complete list per the PGA Tour Media Guide.

To put into more perspective just how impressive this milestone is, Jack Nicklaus, considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time, fell five short of 500, making 495 cuts in 584 career starts on the PGA Tour. 

Tiger Woods, typically the only other option in the GOAT conversation, hasn’t even appeared in 500 PGA Tour events. He has teed it up in 374 official events and made the cut 338 times, including a record 142 in a row during a stretch from 1998 to 2005.

Cink Would Be Just the 5th Player to Win a PGA Tour Event After Turning 50

While it may be hard to believe, Cink, who last visited the winner’s circle at the 2021 RBC Heritage, has just as many PGA Tour victories over the last four years as 30-year-old Jordan Spieth, each of whom has two.

But while Spieth missed the cut at the Valspar, Cink still has a shot to pick up career win number nine, although it will be a tall task with such a jammed leaderboard. He didn’t do himself any favors with a rough third-round 76.

But as mentioned, if Cink can somehow find a way to come back and pull it off, he’d become just the fifth player in the last five decades to win a PGA Tour event after turning 50. The most recent to do so was Phil Mickelson, who became the oldest player to win a major with a victory at the 2021 PGA Championship just a few weeks shy of his 51st birthday.

Here’s a look at the full list.