HERTFORDSHIRE, England – Timing, as they say, is everything. Just ask Stewart Cink.

The lanky Georgian fired a 65 Thursday that left him two strokes off the lead after the first round of the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship. Four short days ago, he was one of the few bright lights for the U.S., beating Sergio Garcia 4 and 3 in singles at the Ryder Cup.

Coincidence? Definitely not. The week after making the Ryder Cup team in 2004, Cink won the World Golf Championships event in Akron, Ohio – and he lost to Tiger Woods in a playoff there again this year.

“I do feel like I get myself up for these, but I think it has more to do with timing,’ Cink said when asked to explain his success. “I spent a lot of time and put a lot of energy into getting ready for the Ryder Cup, so my game is in pretty good shape.

“The last World Golf Championship we played at Firestone, I put a lot of energy into getting ready for the PGA. It's just a carryover of preparation, and I think that's more to it than just a coincidence and getting up for it.”

Cink, who was one of Tom Lehman’s two captain’s picks for the U.S. Team, contributed 2 ½ points to the American cause at The K Club – second only to Tiger Woods’ three. He played in all five matches and tried valiantly, but unsuccessfully to start the U.S. rally.

“I left with a lot of confidence after Sunday, to be honest,’ Cink admitted. “But it was a mixed feeling. You know, I felt some deflation, well, a lot of deflation because of our loss, but at the same time I felt like I did what I needed to do for the team to go out and get the second match. …

“Coming into this week I've decided that I'm going to take a lot of positives out of Sunday. Really all week I played pretty darn good Like I said, I'm prepared to play after the Ryder Cup. I've been working on (my game) really hard, and I felt Tom Lehman put a lot of faith into me by picking me, and I wanted to show him that he made the right choice.

“When you prepare like that for a tournament it doesn't disappear just because the last putt falls.”

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Players have many different drills to help them improve their putting. Padraig Harrington, though, tried one of the more unusual methods earlier this week.

“I work a lot with my left shoe off when I'm practicing my putting,” Harrington explained. “I don't get enough weight on my left side. (I’m) trying to get 60 percent of my weight on my left foot and 40 on my right.

“Obviously when you take half an inch off your left side, all of a sudden you've got to lean in there. It's a convenient way of working on something without having to think about it.”