Castle Rock – Corey Pavin, assistant captain of the 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup Team, became the first to greet Stewart Cink after Cink’s fifth-place finish Sunday at The International.
Desperately trying to make the team, Cink can only hope that Pavin’s pat on the back meant congratulations rather than condolences.
The poker-faced Pavin wasn’t about to show his cards. He asked Cink how he stood in the Ryder Cup standings after his effort at Castle Pines, but nothing more.
“I told Corey that I didn’t know how the points worked,” Cink told reporters afterward. “I told him I just needed to play better.”
Cink was well aware that he ranked 20th in Ryder Cup points entering The International. He wasn’t sure how many points his fifth-place finish was worth. The answer is 120, which jumped him to 12th with 676.894 points. The top 10 in points qualify automatically for the Sept. 22-24 Ryder Cup matches in Kildare, Ireland. Team captain Tom Lehman will announce two at-large picks next Monday, a day after the results of the PGA Championship complete the qualifying cycle.
If anybody having a good year told reporters at The International that the Ryder Cup standings were not on their mind, they were kidding themselves, Cink said.
“I was hoping to maybe seal the deal this week by winning,” Cink said. “At least maybe I got some attention (from Lehman).”
Like Cink, Tom Pernice Jr. figures he squandered a terrific opportunity. Pernice, the 2001 International winner, entered the final round in a tie for 12th place. He finished in a tie for 19th. Only top-10 finishes earn U.S. Ryder Cup points.
Pernice entered The International ranked 17th in the Ryder Cup standings, and slipped to 18th, and never has made a Ryder Cup team.
“You try not to think about (the Ryder Cup standings) but, yeah, you’re trying to do well,” Pernice said.
Zach Johnson and Brett Quigley also were kicking themselves Sunday. Johnson failed to add to his point total on the final day and remains ninth in Ryder Cup points. He entered the final round at Castle Pines in first place but finished in a tie for 13th.
Quigley entered The International ranked 21st in Ryder Cup points. He finished in a tie for 10th at Castle Pines and didn’t move up.
“I needed a good finish here, a top-three here and probably a top-three next week (at the PGA Championship),” Quigley conceded.
He felt the pressure more on Saturday when he was paired with Lehman. Quigley scored only 2 points and called his round “horrible.”
“That was the worst round I’ve played all year,” Quigley recalled. “All I was thinking about was Ryder Cup, Ryder Cup captain, making the team and that being a ‘tryout.’
“I just failed miserably. That was very disappointing.”
With his runner-up finish, Lehman scored 180 points and moved up to 19th place in the Ryder Cup standings. Lehman reiterated that if he earns enough points in this week’s PGA Championship to get into the top 10, he likely would step aside and allow the No. 11 point-getter on the team.
“I decided awhile back that unless there was some crazy, unforeseen circumstance, I would not play,” Lehman said. “My putting is just a little bit too erratic.”
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-
5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
