Stewart Cink pushes lead to 3 in Alabama in bid for 2nd straight senior major

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Stewart Cink increased his lead to three strokes Saturday in tricky wind conditions at the Regions Tradition in his bid to win consecutive senior major titles. After opening with two 7-under 65s at Greystone to take a two-shot edge, Cink had a 71 to get to 15-under 201 in his home state event. He won the major Senior PGA Championship two weeks ago in Florida for his third victory of the year on the 50-and-over tour. “Overall today it was just a lot harder day to score,” Cink said. “I wasn’t quite as sharp either as I was the first couple days, but sometimes the golf course it just turns on you a little bit. The wind direction on a lot of the holes was awkward and it was difficult to pick out a lot of the gusts in the direction of it.” In wind gusting to 20 mph, the 52-year-old Cink offset a double bogey on the par-5 15th with birdies on the par-3 14th and par-5 18th. “The birdie at the last was nice,” said Cink, announced as an assistant captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team Saturday. “That was some pretty good shots. But the double on the 15th hole was what happens when you hit a whole bunch of bad shots in one hole. You get a bad score.” Sixty-two-year-old Colin Montgomerie was second, closing with a bogey for a 67. “This is the beauty of the game of golf that age is just a number,” Montgomerie said. “If it was any other sport, you would be well gone by now.” Doug Barron (69) and Steven Alker (71) were 10 under. Cink opened the season with a victory in January in Hawaii in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, then won the Hoag Classic and Senior PGA in consecutive starts in late March and April. He has seven career senior titles after winning eight times on the PGA Tour, highlighted by a playoff victory over Tom Watson in the 2009 British Open. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk announced Cink and Justin Leonard as assistant captains during a television interview at the Kentucky Derby. The matches are next year at Adare Manor in Ireland. Cink grew up in Florence in the northwest corner of Alabama. \\\_ AP golf: