Cink can clean out layers at 25-1

Stewart Cink should be backed at the generally available odds of 25-1 to claim the victory he’s been threatening all year in the prestigious Players Championship at Sawgrass. The event, regarded as the fifth major, carries a whopping $9 million prize pool and starts on Thursday.

Cink, 35 later this month, is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour but not since 2004 when his two titles included his highest profile success so far, the WGC-NEC Invitational.

However, whilst failing to add another success, he has posted numerous high finishes, with his joint-third to Phil Mickelson here 12 months ago one of six top-tens last year.

That effort is particularly relative, with last year being the first since the event was switched to its May slot, and first since an extensive renovation of the course.

Cink comes into the week in tremendous form, posting his sixth top-ten of the campaign in the Wachovia Championship, with his earlier high finishes including a joint-third in the Masters. He was also runner-up to Tiger Woods in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.

With Woods an absentee this week, Mickelson, the defending champion, heads the bookmakers’ lists at 12-1.