Cink, Wi Share First-Round Lead at Sultry Scioto C.C.

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Oppressive heat. An extremely challenging golf course. And a national championship. It’s enough to make anyone lose their mind.

Like it’s been all week at Scioto Country Club, a historic Donald Ross design hosting its third U.S. Senior Open Championship (46th edition), the weather for Thursday’s opening round – namely temperatures in the mid-90s with triple-digit Heat Indexes – continued to be the dominating story.

Trying to stay focused while hydrating as much as possible was as much the goal as finding fairways and greens.

Stewart Cink just needed nine holes to figure everything out. The winner of the year’s first two senior majors got off to a slow start, but once he got lathered up, the 53-year-old from Atlanta, Ga., brought more heat than a Jacob Misiorowski fastball.

It was if Cink wiped away the pedestrian start as if he was brushing off sweat with a towel. A 2-over 37 became a back-nine 30 for a 3-under-par 67, good enough to share the lead with Charlie Wi.

Cink rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole and then finished the day off with a brilliant 8-iron fairway bunker shot to 3 feet on 18. He also birdied Nos. 10 (18 feet), 13 (15 feet) and 14 (6 feet).

Three players posted 2-under 68s: Freddie Jacobson, George McNeill and Simon Griffiths, who had an ace on the par-3 17th hole.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington, who made three birdies over his final six holes, was among the group at 1-under 69. Also in the clubhouse on that number were Miguel Angel Jimenez, the co-runner-up here 10 years ago, Paul Stankowski, Tommy Gainey, Ben Crane, Jamie Donaldson, lefties Richard Green and Greg Chalmers, Søren Kjeldsen and Alex Cejka.

The Round 1 scoring average was 74.1.

“When things aren't going well it's easy to lose yourself out there,” said Wi. “Luckily, I was playing well, so I was able to stay focused the whole way around.”

Cink, bidding to become the first player since Steve Stricker in 2019 to win the first three senior majors of the year, just needed time to shake off the rust of not playing a competitive event in a month.

Since dominating the Senior PGA Championship in April with a six-stroke victory at the Concession Club, in Bradenton, Fla., and then claiming a three-stroke triumph at the Regions Tradition at Greystone, in suburban Birmingham, Ala., two weeks later, Cink teed it up just twice, and the American Family Insurance Championship is a team competition.

But on the biggest stages in senior golf, he catches fire. Including his runner-up finish last year to Harrington at The Broadmoor, Cink has not finished outside the top seven in 10 senior major starts; the lone exception being a tie for 12th in the 2025 Regions Tradition.

In his Tuesday press conference, Cink reiterated that he’s not thinking about any streaks, and is only focused on this week’s championship.

The heat? For someone who lives in Georgia, sweltering conditions are the norm, not the exception. His wife packed him little burritos filled with turkey, cheese and chard (leafy green vegetable related to beets and spinach), which helped keep the energy levels up. He also sought shade as much as possible.

“I did not carry an umbrella,” said Cink. “I thought about it, but I did not take my umbrella. I did purposely walk way out to the edge and walk in the trees quite a bit. Stood in some weird places while the other guys in my group were hitting on the tees like way off to the side or whatever.

“I think food like that can hydrate you a little bit too because of all the water in the chard. It was hard. It was challenging. I drank a lot of water. I went through the hydration powder. I wasn't really all that talkative today. I just tried to save my energy deciding what to do and focusing on the golf shot and just getting to the house.”

As hot as Cink was on Scioto’s back nine, someone needed to douse Wi, a native Korean who moved to Southern California when he was 10, with a fire hose during a sizzling five-hole stretch on the outward nine. Starting with the par-4 third (his 12th of the round), Wi made five consecutive birdies to nearly match the all-time mark of six by Ken Tanigawa four years ago at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Old Course. His best shot in that stretch came at the 209-yard fourth hole when he laced a 5-iron to a foot.

Unfortunately, his bid for the lowest round in Scioto U.S. Senior Open history came to a splashing end when his approach at the 496-yard, par-4 eighth – a par 5 for the members – found the penalty area, leading a double bogey. Wi, a former University of California-Berkeley standout with nine professional titles (none yet on PGA Tour Champions), was 5 under pat the time.

“I did that at Regions [Tradition] about a month ago to start out the round,” said Wi when asked if he’d ever produced five consecutive birdies. “I didn't know I made five in a row; my caddie (Corby Segal) reminded me.

“Today I was like, ‘Did I just run off four in a row?’ On the fifth one I was thinking about it, come on, get it out of your brain, and I was able to make it.”

Griffiths, an Englishman who made his U.S. Senior Open debut last year with a tie for 50th, was starting to feel the effects of the heat when he stepped onto the tee at No. 17. Coming off three consecutive bogeys and starting to lose some confidence, the 53-year-old European Senior Tour competitor chose gap wedge on the 134-yard hole. The ball hit the green and spun into the hole for the 25th known ace in championship history. Then he birdied the par-4 closing hole.

“I was trying to literally make contact with the ball,” said Griffiths. “When I hit it, I thought, well, that looks good. That's on the green. To go in was just a bonus.

“The course is absolutely fantastic. The greens are immaculate. The fairways are immaculate. If you can drive it in play, you can give yourself some chances out here. Yeah, it's a very fair setup.”

McNeill, one of the 50 first-timers in the field, had never bettered 70 in five U.S. Open starts; the lowest being a second-round 71 in the 2009 championship at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course where he missed the cut. But a nice uphill birdie on the par-3 ninth, his last of the day, gave the 50-year-old from Fort Myers, Fla., some positive vibes going into Round 2.

What’s Next

Round 2 for the 156 competitors will take place on Friday, beginning at 7 a.m. EDT (7:05 a.m. off the 10th hole) with the low 60 scorers and ties advancing to the weekend. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.

Notable

• The 496-yard, par-4 eighth hole was statistically the hardest in Round 1, playing to a stroke average of 4.63. The easiest hole was the 550-yard, par-5 sixth (5.04).
  
  
• Two eagles were made on the 390-yard, par-4 fourth hole: Cliff Kresge and Michael Wright.
  
  
• Rik Cramer, a club professional from Bellbrook, Ohio, had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot. Cramer qualified for this championship at his home course, Miami Valley Golf Club, in Dayton, Ohio. He drew a loud ovation when introduced as members from his club along with family, some flying in from Virginia and Texas, were in his gallery. Paul Wackerly III, of Carrollton, Ohio, hit the first shot off No. 10.
  
  
• Simon Griffiths’ ace on Thursday was the first hole-in-one ever recorded at Scioto during a U.S. Senior Open.
  
  
• Five-time PGA Tour winner Mark Wilson made the first birdie of the championship on the par-4 first hole. Wilson also was the runner-up to Tiger Woods in the 1992 U.S. Junior Amateur. Two other Woods’ six victims in USGA amateur finals are on the grounds this week. Ryan Armour, a former Ohio State standout who is competing in his first U.S. Senior Open, lost the 1993 U.S. Junior Amateur final, and Trip Kuehne, who is serving as the caddie for younger brother and Senior Open debutante Hank Kuehne, fell in the 1994 U.S. Amateur final.
  
  
• A plethora of USGA champions are competing inside the ropes this week, but one past winner is serving as a roving Rules official. Kevin Johnson, a former Clemson University standout, won the 1987 U.S. Amateur Public Links just south of Columbus at Glenview Golf Course, in Cincinnati. A year later, he lost in the championship match in 37 holes to Ralph Howe III, the USGA’s first left-handed champion. Johnson and Howe were both on the 1989 USA Walker Cup Team. Johnson currently serves as a full-time Rules official on PGA Tour Champions.
  
  
• David Jacobsen, the brother of 2004 U.S. Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen, is the first-tee starter this week. Jacobsen won the 2025 USGA Joe Dey Award for meritorious service to the game. His son, Matt, also is assisting the USGA with security. Peter, a golf analyst for Golf Channel and NBC, is also here as a member of the broadcast team. Doug Fry is starting players on No. 10.
  
  
• Of the 18 amateurs in the field, Brian Guetz, of Littleton, Colo., fired the best score, a 2-over 72 that has him one stroke ahead of Haymes Snedeker, the older brother of 10-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker.
  
  
• To keep the players/spectators/caddies/officials properly hydrated in the oppressive heat and humidity, the USGA and Scioto Country Club are bringing in approximately 500 cases of water per day. Five water stations have also been installed at various points on the course for fans to keep cool. All of the on-site digital boards have warning signs about the weather conditions.
  
  
• Jay Haas’ remarkable streak of making the cut ever one of his U.S. Senior Open starts (18-for-18) is in jeopardy. The South Carolinian opened with a 76.
  
  
• Architect Andrew Green, the man responsible for the latest restoration of Scioto C.C., caddied in the Tuesday practice round for Hank Kuehne. Green did some renovations at The Vaquero Club outside of Dallas where Kuehne is the director of golf and older brother Trip is a member. Trip is on Hank’s bag for the championship. Green specializes in restoring Donald Ross designs.
  
  
• Mark Calcavecchia withdrew from the championship after 11 holes. No official reason was given. Also withdrawing on Thursday was qualifier Scott Berliner.

Quotable

“I remember hotter rounds. I have played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia many times. It's never been as cool as today in KL. It's the hottest place I've ever been by far. Then in Tulsa in 2007, the PGA there, you probably remember. I changed clothes in the middle of the round. This is really hot, but it's not the hottest. It's very uncomfortable out there, especially for a 53-year-old. All of us seniors out here, when we were 25, these days hardly we even noticed. But now we definitely notice.” – Stewart Cink

“I thought when I played the practice rounds that it was going to be advantageous to the guys that hit the ball far, but [the] USGA did a good job when they moved some of the tees up. So, it's not only for the bombers, but it's also for people that hit the ball straight which can score around here. The pins are really tough. There's a lot of undulation out there, but they made it very fair.” – Charlie Wi on the setup

“There's definitely pressure when you're defending. You feel like you're already leading the tournament, so you have that pressure no doubt. That's probably why for the first six holes I was very cautious.” – Padraig Harrington

“I'm feeling good but I'm tired. I mean, it's a U.S. Open, man, it's going to hit you in the face. It's going to punch you in the face, hit you in the face, every single hole. So you [have] got to be on top of your game mentally and physically. If not, this heat and this golf course will knock you down and you won't get up.” – Tommy Gainey

 “It was a pretty cool bonus to the week. No idea that was even a thing. Then I realized, after we had the 7 [a.m.] tee time, that was the first tee shot being hit. So [it] took me back a little bit initially, but what an honor. Yeah, it's a blessing.” – Rik Cramer, a club professional from Miami Valley G.C., in Dayton, on hitting the opening tee shot

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.