COVERAGE: Cink, Wi Tied Atop U.S. Senior Open After Humid Thursday

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — Stewart Cink started the first round of his U.S. Senior Open with a bogey and made the turn at Scioto Country Club at 2-over par.

But as the only golfer to record five birdies on his back nine, he said he didn’t find anything special. He just started trusting.

Cink, the current leader in the Charles Schwab Cup points race on PGA Tour Champions and last year’s U.S. Senior Open runner up, has once again put himself in position, tying Charlie Wi at 3 under atop the leaderboard following Thursday’s play.

“I’ve been off for a little while, and I started like I’ve been off for a little while,” Cink opened up. “(I was in the) middle of the fairway on 1, and I inexplicably lost my trust in the downswing and flared it out to the right in the bunker.

“A couple other shots on the front nine, I don’t know. I had to prove it to myself again that I could play decent golf a certain way. The back nine was really nice. I actually could have shot quite a bit lower on the back nine, but all in all, it was a good score.

“It’s really tough out there. The heat is a factor for sure. It affects your focus and your energy level. Sometimes even the simplest shots, it’s easy to fall asleep at the wheel when the conditions are like that.”

The heat index during Thursday’s play approached 118 degrees and players were constantly drinking water and Gatorade throughout their rounds.

Cink’s round ended with a close approach which resulted in birdie on the final hole. As he reflected afterwards, it was an homage to former Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green.

His former caddie Taylor Ford lives in the area, and the pair would call close approaches the Bears, a reference to Green’s tirade in which he said the Chicago Bears “were what we thought they were and we let them off the hook.”

“My old caddie Taylor used to say when I hit a shot it worked out exactly how we planned he would say, ‘that was Bears,’ ” smiled Cink. “It was exactly what we thought it was. So, I’ve adopted that with my subsequent caddie. We’d call that shot on 18, that was Bears.”

What Cink did on the back nine, was exactly what Wi did on his second nine, the course’s front side, as he recorded five consecutive birdies.

“I hit the ball pretty solid today, made a couple of putts,” Wi debriefed. “It was a hot day. I just made sure that I stayed in the ballgame, meaning like mentally, because you could easily lose it out there. Yeah, overall, it was just a solid day in the first round. Today I was like, wait, 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.”

Wi did double bogey the penultimate hole but bounced back with a par to end his day.

“I thought that when I played the practice round that it was going to be advantageous to the guys that hit the ball far, but USGA did a good job when they moved some of the tees up,” Wi deduced. “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. The greens aren’t crazy hard, so you can really attack some of those pins today.”

Charlie Wi tees off from the 15th hole during the first round of the 2026 U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

Both Cink and Wi lead by a shot over their three closest pursuers. One of those is Simon Griffiths, who recorded a hole-in-one on the 17th hole.

“I wasn’t feeling very good,” Griffiths recalled. “I bogeyed the last three holes, and I was feeling lightheaded, wasn’t feeling particularly well. It was a good number for my gap wedge. I was trying to literally make contact with the ball. When I hit it, I thought, well, that looks good. That’s on the green. To go in was just a bonus.”

Simon Griffiths tees off from the 15th hole during the first round of the 2026 U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

CRAMER LEADS OFF U.S. SENIOR OPEN

Ten years ago when the U.S. Senior Open was last contested at Scioto Country Club, the USGA offered a local taste with Brian Mogg getting the chance to tee off first. In a similar vein, this time it was Rik Cramer’s turn.

Surrounded by what he estimated to be 80-to-100 fans, comprised of individuals from Miami Valley Golf Club where he is head professional, plus folks from Virginia and Texas, he received a loud ovation when he was called up first for his 7 a.m. tee time and there was a chant of his name as he walked off the tee.

“It was a pretty cool bonus to the week,” he beamed. “No idea that was even a thing. Then I realized, after we had the 7 o’clock tee time, that was the first tee shot being hit. So took me back a little bit initially, but what an honor. Yeah, it’s a blessing.”

Greg Sanders, Matt Daniel and Rik Cramer walk off the first hole tee boxo during the first round of the 2026 U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, July 2, 2026. (Edward M. Pio Roda/USGA)

Cramer has played at Scioto before, though it had been over 22 years and 3,000 trees ago. Even having previously played the course, he admitted there were nerves present standing on the first tee.

The round was an 8-over par effort, but he was able to produce a highlight with a birdie on the 12th hole.

“The oxygen left the tee felt like off the first hole a little bit. Took us a while to get through that, and then a little tight spell, just keeping it in front of me. A couple of bad decisions, and that frees you up some.

By the time we got to 12, it’s a good opportunity for me. I’m able to get to that green in two with less than a 3-wood. It’s all about getting a good tee shot there and getting it close to the green, which I did, easy up-and-down.

Cramer, was the beneficiary of having final qualifying occur at his home course and fired a 2-under 70 and then survived a 6-for-5 playoff, which included two-time PGA Tour winner Mark Wilson.

“Obviously having it at home is much more comfortable than a place you’re not familiar with,” summarized Cramer. “But it’s a quality field, you know what I mean? You’ve got to go play golf. You’ve got to do it well. It’s considerably tighter to play with the ramifications of what’s coming off of this if you do well. I had a couple of tour winners even in our playoffs, guys that these aren’t just anybody coming off the street. These are pretty solid golfers. We were fortunate to get through it in one hole, so it was great.”

DOMPIER EARNS ULTIMATE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

There may not have been a more avid watcher of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open last week than Chris Dompier, as he was hoping someone would win who was already in the U.S. Senior Open.

Sure enough the playoff between eventual winner Dicky Pride and Padraig Harrington fit the billing and so Dompier had the opportunity to tee it up for the first time on Thursday. It was an early birthday present as Dompier celebrated his 50th on Wednesday.

“I went into the mindset that I was going to enjoy it no matter what and I was going to be here, do some practice rounds and be used to the vibe,” he determined. “I wasn’t that nervous but I was elated when I got that call.”

Count Dompier as a fan of both layout and course condition, though much of his round was a battle and humidity was a lot to take, even for the Arizona resident, as evidenced by sweat falling from his face moments after his round concluded.

He was 6-over in his first eight holes when he got up and down on the ninth, his third effort coming with a foot in the bunker and coming off a shelf, before ultimately settling five feet from the cup.

The boost from that sequence led to a birdie on the very next hole that made him feel like he was getting back into the game. He had several looks for the next few holes, but could not get any to drop.

A bogey on his final hole dropped him back to 6 over.

“It’s funny how in golf sometimes one hole, one shot can turn your spirit around, it definitely did for me, unfortunately I am still further back than I want to be,” explained Dompier. “Obviously the goal is to make the cut, I think the cut is going to be 4 or 5 over, so it’s doable I just got to have a good round tomorrow. Conditions tomorrow will be a little easier, I have one of the earlier tee times, hoping we have some good vibes and make some putts early.

A definite highlight for Dompier has been having his assistant pro caddying for him. He also has had his wife along with him. She caddied for him during the first stage of qualifying. He also appreciates seeing Steve Allan and Michael Block who has had played with over the years.

Through the few days it not just been nice to see these faces but also have the feeling that he can hang with the field.

Next up for Dompier is Scotland where he will try to qualify for the Senior British Open, which will take place July 23-26 at the King’s Course at Gleneagles.

“You’re only 50 one time, so I am going to make a run at it,” Dompier concluded.

HE SAID IT

“I got lightheaded out there a few times and you try to drink as much as you can. It’s like drinking a bottle a hole, it doesn’t seem real without going to the bathroom. You’re trying to get yourself to eat something, but it’s so hot, you don’t want to eat. Mentally it’s challenging in that regard and when you make a bogey or two, you feel you are getting behind and you have to be aggressive. If you’re too aggressive on this golf course, and you make a mistake, you’ll pay more.” – Dompier

“I think that’s probably my lowest score ever in a USGA Championship. This is my first one obviously on the Senior Tour, but the previous ones I played in, the U.S. Opens and stuff, I always had — never really played that well. It’s nice to get off to a good start.” – George McNeill, who is currently T3