Stewart Cink is one of the best golfers in the world. At the time of writing he is ranked sixth in the world. He has won five times in the USA, most recently the Travellers Championship in June 2008. He has also twice lost in a play-off after finishing joint first in a US tour event.

2008 was a great year. He was runner up to Tiger Woods in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, finished third in the US Masters as well as second place in the PODS championship.

He has yet to win a major but has finished 3rd in the US Masters (2008), 3rd in the US Open (2001), 3rd in the USPGA (1999) and 6th in the Open Championship (2007). He has played in 4 Ryder Cups (USA v Europe) and 3 President’s Cup, (USA v The Rest of the World).

Golf has always been part of his life: ‘My parents used to take me to the golf club because it was easier than getting a babysitter and I would play on the cart. People ask me when I started playing golf. The answer is I don’t know because it was earlier than I can remember. I used to set myself targets - break 60, 50, 40 for 9 holes.

‘My first breakthrough came in a junior tournament in Alabama where I lived when I was 8. There were only two players in the under eleven section and I won. The following year I lost to Brian Gay – now a US tour player - who even got a hole in one. So by the age of 9, I had learnt that it was more fun to win than to lose.’

He got a scholarship to Georgia Tech, which gave him the chance to practise a lot and develop his game. But a chance encounter was to change his life. ‘The golf team had lunch together each day. Once a player brought a friend, who was a church minister. The minister asked me if I died that day, would I go to heaven or hell? I replied ‘heaven - because I was a good person, I did not cheat on the golf course, and I would help an old lady across the road’. I was embarrassed by the question because guys don’t talk about personal things like that.

‘It was seven years before I learned the right answer to that question - that I could only go to heaven because Jesus died on a cross to take care of my sins. There is no one who is perfect and the basis of my life is to believe that Jesus died for my sins. I don’t believe in Jesus in order to get more birdies but it gives me a great sense of peace. Having Christ in my life makes the valleys less deep and the peaks less steep.

‘Winning tournaments, playing Ryder Cup are great but only last a week - in Jesus I have something that will last forever.’ Stewart can also see the funny side of his Christian faith. One day he was playing a par 3 and his playing partner and he hit identical shots past the pin - his partner’s ball stuck in the fringe, Stewart’s spun back beside the hole. As they walked off, he heard the other player say: ‘that was Christian bounce - we don’t get any of them!’