PGA champion Stewart Cink finds peace and joy in Jesus

Originally published in CBN News

Professional golfer Stewart Cink is making Jesus the headline even though he just won his second PGA Tour event of the year on Sunday. Cink made it clear that having faith in Jesus Christ brings him peace, which impacts how he plays on the course.

During a post-tournament press conference, the 47-year-old said he relies on his faith even when the golf game doesn’t go as expected.

“The thing about me and my family with the peace and joy we experience, it’s not something that just we wait for the circumstances to line up, like the planets or some signs or tea leaves or something,” Cink said. “We install our own peace and joy because of our faith in Jesus Christ, basically.”

He added: “That is the number one tenet of my life, and it enables me to feel peaceful and joyful even when the golf ball is not agreeing with my club face and not going in the hole.

“I don’t seek peace and joy out of golf because I know I can never depend on it to fully sustain that kind of peace and joy that I’m looking for…I love playing and winning and having a week like this is just amazing, but the peace and joy that we experience — and it’s available to everybody — is something that you don’t have to wait for the circumstances,” he said.

Cink’s wife, Lisa, and their two sons were also there to see him win the RBC Heritage championship trophy.

“It’s just an amazing blessing,” she said. “God has blessed us beyond words, and I’m just super grateful and I love them so much.”

Since becoming a professional golfer in 1995, Cink has won eight times on the PGA Tour. He won at the Heritage in 2000 and 2004, then captured the win at the 2009 British Open, Sports Spectrum reports.

And over the years he has faced several professional disappointments as well as some personal struggles.

Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and he also had cancerous cells removed from his face shortly after that. 

But during the difficult times, Cink has kept a firm grip on his faith.

“Faith just helps me iron out a lot of the bad stuff, and whenever I feel like I’m on top of the world, it helps me realise that the glory is not for me,” Cink said in 2013. 

He also shared how beneficial it has been for him to stay involved in a Bible study with other golfers while on tour. 

“Golf can be really up and down, and 65s and 75 don’t feel the same,” Cink explained. “Studying the Bible and being with these fellow believers helps me to feel like I can be the same every day and be grounded in something that’ll never change.”