Els and Pettersson both finished on eight under par 276 after respective closing rounds of 69 and 67 at the Hilton Head Island course in South Carolina, but they had to give way to Cink who stormed from outside the top 20 at the beginning of the day to ten under par 274 with a closing 64.
It was good enough to tie overnight leader Ted Purdy, who finished with a 73, before Cink completed the job and claimed the title with a birdie at the fifth extra hole.
The excellent week for The European Tour contingent was continued by England’s Justin Rose who finished on six under par 278 for a share of seventh place.