HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Two-time champion Stewart Cink moved into position for a third RBC Heritage title, shooting a second straight 63 to set the 36-hole scoring mark at Harbour Town.
Cink, 47, appears unstoppable after two amazing days. He sits at 16-under 126, five shots ahead of Corey Conners. The previous best midway score was 129, set by Jack Nicklaus en route to victory in 1975 and matched by Phil Mickelson, who wound up third in 2002.
Conners shot 64 and was 11 under. Emiliano Grillo (64) was another shot behind.
Fourth-ranked Collin Morikawa, preparing to defend his PGA Championship title next month, was tied for fourth at 9-under with Sungjae Im (65), Billy Horschel (67) and Cameron Smith, who followed his opening-round 62 with a 71.
Cink was hardly overwhelmed by the scores he posted, chalking them up to smart preparation and strong execution alongside his 24-year-old son, Reagan, who’s caddying for him.
“It doesn’t feel all that special, to be honest with you,” Cink said. “We just kind of worked our game plan.”
It was certainly unexpected. Cink hasn’t finished in the top 20 at Harbour Town in a decade, hadn’t led halfway since the Travelers Championship in 2008 and is closer to the PGA Tour Champions than his prime.
Yet Cink has had a renaissance on golf’s biggest stage this season. He won for the first time in 11 years at the Safeway Open in September and has added five top-20 finishes including a tie for 12th last week at the Masters.
Cink was down three shots to Conners when he teed off Friday.
No matter. Cink quickly erased the deficit with an eagle on the par-5 second and a birdie on No. 3. Cink moved in front with a birdie on the sixth and steadily built his margin the rest of the way, adding birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th holes.
The veteran is two solid rounds away from adding a third plaid jacket to the two he earned in 2000 and 2004. In both of those wins, Cink came from behind on Sunday. This time he’ll need to just maintain his strong overall play.
Since Reagan became his caddie, father and son have been collaborating on strategy before tournaments.
“We call it bludgeoning and we’re just bludgeoning that plan almost to death,” the elder Cink said with a grin. “When you manage yourself around a course like that and execute, the golf courses yield.”
PGA Tour RBC Heritage Scores
Friday
At Harbour Town Golf Links
Hilton Head, S.C.
Purse: $7.1 million
Yardage: 7,121; Par: 71
Second Round
Stewart Cink 63-63 — 126
Corey Conners 67-64 — 131
Emiliano Grillo 68-64 — 132
Cameron Smith 62-71 — 133
Collin Morikawa 65-68 — 133
Sungjae Im 68-65 — 133
Billy Horschel 66-67 — 133
Wesley Bryan 68-66 — 134
Tom Hoge 67-67 — 134
Harold Varner III 66-68 — 134
Abraham Ancer 69-66 — 135
Shane Lowry 70-65 — 135
Matt Fitzpatrick 71-64 — 135
Will Zalatoris 68-67 — 135
Michael Thompson 68-67 — 135
Lucas Glover 67-69 — 136
Sung Kang 68-68 — 136
Charles Howell III 66-70 — 136
Robert MacIntyre 70-67 — 137
Adam Schenk 68-69 — 137
Robert Streb 68-69 — 137
Ian Poulter 69-68 — 137
Chris Kirk 70-67 — 137
Sepp Straka 70-67 — 137
Brian Harman 67-70 — 137
Camilo Villegas 69-68 — 137
Matt Wallace 65-72 — 137
Charley Hoffman 68-69 — 137
Branden Grace 68-69 — 137
Dustin Johnson 70-67 — 137
Brian Stuard 70-68 — 138
Dylan Frittelli 71-67 — 138
Mackenzie Hughes 67-71 — 138
Maverick McNealy 71-67 — 138
Cameron Davis 69-69 — 138
Kevin Streelman 67-71 — 138
Matt Kuchar 70-68 — 138
Si Woo Kim 71-67 — 138
Daniel Berger 67-71 — 138
Russell Henley 69-70 — 139
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 70-69 — 139
Lee Westwood 71-68 — 139
Tom Lewis 72-67 — 139
Webb Simpson 71-68 — 139
Danny Willett 68-71 — 139
Tyrrell Hatton 73-66 — 139
Ryan Moore 70-69 — 139
Harry Higgs 71-68 — 139
Chase Seiffert 71-68 — 139
Doug Ghim 70-69 — 139
Brice Garnett 69-70 — 139
Rory Sabbatini 70-69 — 139
Alex Noren 71-68 — 139
Matthew NeSmith 68-72 — 140
Wyndham Clark 70-70 — 140
Sam Burns 72-68 — 140
Brendon Todd 70-70 — 140
Scott Piercy 70-70 — 140
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 67-73 — 140
Denny McCarthy 73-67 — 140
Andrew Landry 70-70 — 140
Kevin Tway 69-71 — 140
Brandt Snedeker 69-71 — 140
Scott Harrington 69-71 — 140
Luke List 74-66 — 140
Missed cut
Patrick Rodgers 72-69 — 141
Pat Perez 72-69 — 141
Sebastian Munoz 72-69 — 141
Hudson Swafford 70-71 — 141
Byeong Hun An 72-69 — 141
Danny Lee 68-73 — 141
Austin Cook 67-74 — 141
Jim Furyk 70-71 — 141
Tommy Fleetwood 76-65 — 141
Jason Dufner 71-71 — 142
Paul Casey 74-68 — 142
Patrick Cantlay 71-71 — 142
J.T. Poston 74-68 — 142
Rafael Campos 70-72 — 142
Kyle Stanley 70-72 — 142
Brian Gay 68-74 — 142
Zach Johnson 72-70 — 142
Hunter Mahan 73-69 — 142
Scott Stallings 73-70 — 143
Adam Hadwin 76-67 — 143
Vaughn Taylor 68-75 — 143
Jim Herman 75-68 — 143
Carlos Ortiz 68-75 — 143
Ryan Armour 72-71 — 143
Sergio Garcia 68-75 — 143
Ben Martin 74-69 — 143
Bill Haas 72-71 — 143
Satoshi Kodaira 72-71 — 143
Nick Taylor 69-74 — 143
Russell Knox 71-72 — 143
Patton Kizzire 74-69 — 143
Bo Hoag 72-72 — 144
C.T. Pan 72-72 — 144
Tyler Duncan 71-73 — 144
Davis Love III 74-70 — 144
Beau Hossler 74-70 — 144
Tommy Gibson 73-71 — 144
Troy Merritt 68-76 — 144
Graeme McDowell 73-71 — 144
Chesson Hadley 74-70 — 144
Peter Malnati 73-72 — 145
Kevin Kisner 72-73 — 145
Will Gordon 75-70 — 145
Ted Potter, Jr. 73-72 — 145
Adam Long 73-72 — 145
Luke Donald 73-72 — 145
Anirban Lahiri 71-75 — 146
Kevin Na 74-72 — 146
Harris English 70-76 — 146
Henrik Norlander 72-74 — 146
Mark Hubbard 73-73 — 146
William McGirt 74-72 — 146
Richy Werenski 69-77 — 146
Martin Trainer 73-73 — 146
K.J. Choi 76-70 — 146
Aaron Wise 72-75 — 147
Bo Van Pelt 73-74 — 147
Scott Brown 73-74 — 147
Xinjun Zhang 75-72 — 147
Michael Gligic 76-71 — 147
Chez Reavie 75-73 — 148
Bryson Nimmer 80-68 — 148
Robby Shelton 73-75 — 148
John Augenstein 72-78 — 150
Andrew Putnam 70-80 — 150
Doc Redman 81-71 — 152
Nick Watney 72-80 — 152
Brandon Hagy 76-76 — 152