24 August 2004	Tuesday	07 Rajab 1425

AKRON, Aug 23: Stewart Cink maintained his composure to register an even par final round score of 70 for a four-shot victory at the $7 million WGC-NEC Invitational on Sunday, his second win of the season.

Selected for this year's Ryder Cup by captain Hal Sutton on Monday, Cink justified the decision by playing the steadiest golf over four days and let his pursuers make the mistakes in trying to catch him.

Cink led after every round and finished the tournament on 11-under-par 269, well clear of world number one Tiger Woods and South Africa's Rory Sabbatini who tied for second. With a final round of 66, Davis Love III finished tied for fourth at six-under-par along side Argentina's Angel Cabrera.

Bob Tway, David Toms and Chris DiMarco finished at five-under-par, six shots behind the winner. The 31-year-old Cink started the day with a five-shot lead over Ryder Cup team mates Toms, DiMarco and Woods but was never threatened by any of his main contenders.

Sabbatini was the only player in the chasing pack to make a significant move, reaching the turn at two-under-par 33 and narrowing the lead to just two shots with a birdie on the 14th.

However, the South African could not keep up the pace and after he missed a nine footer for par on the par-three 15th to fall three shots behind, Sabbatini would never get any closer.

In April, Cink won the MCI Classic following a playoff against Ted Purdy, and his latest victory is the fourth in his eight year PGA Tour career. By finishing ahead of Vijay Singh (283) and Ernie Els (293), Woods ensured that he will retain his number one ranking for a 263rd consecutive week.

LEADING FINAL ROUND SCORES:

269 - Stewart Cink (US) 63, 68, 68, 70.

273 - Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 68, 66, 71, 68; Tiger Woods (US) 68, 66, 70, 69.

274 - Davis Love III (US) 68, 68, 72, 66; Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69, 70, 67, 68.

275 - Bob Tway (US) 67, 73, 67, 68; David Toms (US) 69, 66, 69, 71; Chris DiMarco (US) 68, 69, 67, 71.

276 - Alex Cejka (Germany) 72, 67, 71, 66; Stuart Appleby (Australia) 69, 70, 69, 68; Lee Westwood (Britain) 69, 69, 69, 69; Robert Allenby (Australia) 71, 67, 69, 69; Charles Howell III (US) 71, 67, 68, 70.

277 - Darren Clarke (Britain) 71, 70, 68, 68; Rod Pampling (Australia) 68, 67, 70, 72.

278 - Paul Casey (Britain) 72, 70, 68, 68; Sergio Garcia (Spain) 68, 70, 70, 70; Luke Donald (Britain) 71, 70, 65, 72.

279 - Jerry Kelly (US) 69, 73, 64, 73; Scott Verplank (US) 69, 69, 67, 74. -Reuters