Stewart Cink, left, and J.J. Henry were in sync yesterday, and shared the $250,000 first-place prize in the CVS Caremark Charity Classic.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BARRINGTON — J.J. Henry and Stewart Cink are developing a fast friendship. Yesterday, it got even better.

The two PGA Tour stars have one more thing in common — winning the ninth CVS Caremark Charity Classic. They did it by combining for a 9-under-par 62 at Rhode Island Country Club to finish the 36-hole event at 20-under 122.

That was one shot better than the team of cohost Brad Faxon and Masters champion Zach Johnson. Faxon and Johnson had the lead beginning the back nine but settled for a 63 and a 123 total. It is the fifth time Faxon has finished second in the event.

The teams of Dana and Brett Quigley (62) and two-time champion Chris DiMarco and Camilo Villegas (64) tied for third at 125. Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis, the first women’s team to take part, finished ninth in the 10-team field with a 67 for a 9-under 133.

Many of the contestants, including the new champions, headed for Hartford when the awards ceremony finished to take part in this week’s PGA Tour event which begins tomorrow, the Travelers Championship at the TPC at River Highlands. Henry has special duty there — he is the defending champion.

“It’s my first chance to defend a title. To do it in a place where I grew up, it’s going to be fun,” he said. “Hopefully it will be a good defense.”

If needed, he can ask Cink for advice.

“Stewart knows about that. That’s where he had his first victory, too,” Henry noted.

It is just one aspect of their growing friendship.

“Last year at the Ryder Cup we were together,” Cink said. “We always have a good time together. Good results, bad results. We’re always fine.”

“Our games are very similar,” Henry said. “It makes it easy to play together.”

“I like his game,” Cink said. “We get along well. Our caddies do, our wives do. It goes all the way down to us each having a son named Connor.”

The two put a bit of a different flavor on the ninth CVS. The two dominant themes going in, and even through the first day, were women and international stars. Inkster and Gulbis gave the event a major boost with their presence and their personalities. They drew as many fans as the leaders both days.

“We had a great time,” Inkster said. “The guys were great.

“The tournament is such a wonderful event.”

The event also had seven international players, more than ever, including the defending champions, South Africans Nick Price and Tim Clark, who tied for fifth at 126 with a closing 63.

In the end, though, it was two of America’s best who won it. Cink is a 34-year-old Georgia Tech grad who has won four times on tour and represented the United States in both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

Henry, 32, grew up in Fairfield, Conn., and went to TCU. He said his inspirations in trying to reach the tour included Faxon and CVS cohost Billy Andrade who showed him that New Englanders could reach the tour — and have success on it.

Henry and Cink played in the final foursome with Faxon and Johnson. Early on, the Quigleys made a run and so did the DiMarco-Villegas team. DiMarco and Villegas, in fact, birdied four of the first five and briefly had the lead. They were set back when both bogeyed the sixth, the shortest par-4 on the course.

By the time the players moved into the back nine the two groups in the final foursome were dueling. Faxon continued the terrific play he had displayed in the first round and Johnson settled in nicely and got better and better as play went along.

That team had a two-stroke lead through 11.

“I feel I let Zach down. I didn’t play that well on the back,” Faxon said.

Cink and Henry had birdies at 12 and 13 to move into a tie and then moved ahead with a bird at 16. After that, as Cink said, “we dodged a bullet.”

Johnson had a 15-footer on the par-3 17th that could have pulled him and Faxon even.

“I thought it was in. It just turned at the last second,” Cink said.

Then Faxon and Johnson both had similar putts that also narrowly missed on the final hole.

Cink and Henry had the only skin of the day, a bird on the par-4 third, to win all $25,000 from the Energizer Skins pool. Henry won the Reach long-drive contest, at 312 yards, for another $5,000. And the two shared the $250,000 first-place prize, making it a profitable two days before heading to Hartford.

“As long as we keep getting invited, we’ll be back,” Henry said. “The golf is great. The crowds are great. It’s just a first-class event.”

pkenyon@projo.com