Stewart Cink isn't the sort to believe in good luck charms.

Yet he says it's hardly a coincidence his good friend Zach Johnson won the 2007 Masters Tournament a year after his appearance at the Augusta Golf Breakfast.

"I thought every golfer would be lined up here to speak," the 13-year veteran of the PGA Tour joked early this morning at Warren Baptist Church.

It was Mr. Cink's second visit to the Washington Road congregation, which sponsors the annual breakfast alongside The Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Both events drew 600 to 700 fans, who lobbied for autographs before and after Mr. Cink shared his thoughts on the big three "G's" -- Georgia, Golf, and God.

Though he lives in Duluth these days, Mr. Cink was born in Alabama to two golf-loving parents.

"I was always at the golf course," Mr. Cink said. "I never took a lot of lessons growing up. I just played. I let the golf course and my scorecard be my teacher."

The better he became at golf, the less he says he cared about God.

"I don't think I saw the church doors for three or four years," Mr. Cink said. "I took a detour. It wasn't a Christ detour."

A friend at Georgia Tech changed that. "He asked me, "If you died today, would you go to heaven?"

Mr. Cink thought he had the answer. "I had a list in my pocket, figuratively, of course," he said.

Are you a good person? "Check."

Are you nice to people? "Check," Mr. Cink said. "I had a checklist that would go on for hours and I, of course, had checked all the right boxes. I had to take a look at the man in the mirror."

Six years ago, he accepted "the gift of grace."

"Augusta National knocks you down more than it picks you up," Mr. Cink said.

Life, too, he says. "We all need the faith."

Reach Kelly Jasper at (706) 823-3552

or kelly.jasper@augustachronicle.com.