The 2024 Charles Schwab Cup Championship kickstarted a few hours ago. As the opening round concluded, American professional Stewart Cink took the lead with an impressive 7-under. He is currently a whopping three strokes ahead of K.J. Chol. But as it turns out, there was a reason behind his extraordinary performance on Thursday at the Phoenix Country Club.

After his practice round on Wednesday, Stewart Cink went to watch the Phoenix Suns game and during a break in the action, he was called down to the court to assist the Suns’ mascot, the Gorilla. The mascot bounced off a trampoline, grabbed the ball from Cink’s outstretched hand, and soared through the air for an impressive dunk. 

As he went to escort the gorilla, it did the stand-on-his-head-celebration which was first initiated by Jalen Walthall. “It was cool, I got on the court with the Gorilla. I’ve never had a gorilla run towards me that fast on that trampoline,” he said. At the post-round presser, he went on adding, how he wanted to flinch so bad, but he did not. He bagged his last win at the 2021 RBC Heritage and is now desperate to take home the $528,000 prize money this weekend. So, he is now resorting to extreme fun measures it seems. 

At the 2023 WM Phoenix Open, Stewart Cink wore a Kevin Durant jersey on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale. What made it even more impressive was that Durant had been traded to the Suns just the day before, and Cink had managed to pull some strings to get a custom jersey made in time. As it turns out, this might become a part of his pre-game tradition because of the amazing round he had. “Maybe so. If that’s the case, I’ll go on the Suns back-to-back road trips and let the gorilla dunk on me every night,” he concluded, in all humor though. 

While Stewart Cink might have just discovered what works best for him to have a good round, superstitions have been a prevalent source of optimism for pro golfers. Even the legend Jack Nicklaus had one.

Jack Nicklaus always kept coins in his pocket

Jack Nicklaus won 18 major golf championships during his career, the most of any golfer. The 84-year-old is still regarded as being among the best golfers in the history of the sport. And well, he had a rather unique superstition. He is a strong believer in the number three. As a result of which, he only makes a putt if he has three coins in his pocket. 

While the denomination of the coins doesn’t matter, the three coins have worked well for him, given his extensive career in professional golf. Well, that is not all. Tiger Woods, to channel his inner killer instinct on the last day of his championships, wears red for the Sunday rounds. Even Keegan Bradley has his quirks. For every missed putt, he takes his hat off and scratches his head. And well, the list goes on.

What is one such golfing superstition that you have heard about the pros? Let us know in the comments section below!