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

Augusta Mayor Deke Copenhaver watches Stewart Cink address the crowd at Warren Baptist Church. (Jim Blaylock/Staff)

Still, 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 said jokingly early Tuesday at Warren Baptist Church.

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

The son of golf-loving parents, Cink said, he "was always at the golf course."

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

The better he became, the less he cared about God, Cink said.

"I don't think I saw the church doors for three or four years," the golfer 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?' "

Cink said he 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. I had a checklist that would go on for hours, and I, of course, had checked all the right boxes."

Then, he said, he learned that God isn't interested in our lists:

"I was given the answer. There is no checklist in your pocket. There is no way to earn your way into heaven."

Six years ago, he said, he accepted "the gift of grace." In his sport, that comes in handy.

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

Life, too, he said:

"We all need the faith."

Reach Kelly Jasper at (706) 823-3552 or kelly.jasper@augustachronicle.com.