INTERVIEW OF JOHN COOK

DAVE SENKO:  John, of course, thanks for joining us.  It must feel good to be back home this week and play basically in your backyard. 

JOHN COOK:  Yes, it's pretty close, obviously just a mile down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and that's where we're at.  We love splitting time between here and Orlando. This is where my wife and I, and our home family grew up. We are excited to be back in Southern Cal. I could stand it to be a few degrees warmer, but that's okay.  It can't be perfect all the time, right?  You got to get back to reality at some point.  It's a great spot.  We are beach people and it's good to be back.

DAVE SENKO:   I know you played here a couple of years and have been in the Top‑20.  How much have you played here previously to the tournament, actually? 

JOHN COOK:  Very little.  I played one other time with a couple of members out here before the '08 event.  Other than that, I haven't been on the golf course since last year.

I go across the street over to Big Canyon,  I have a good group of guys to play with over there, and down to El Niguel, which is kind of South Laguna, and up to Virginia Country Club. If I make a day run, I go out to Madison Club out in La Quinta. I got a nice loop. Some great places, some great guys to play with, all great players.  My knowledge of the golf course, basically, is just Pro‑Ams and the tournament rounds.

Q. What is it about you and P2 (playoff-2^nd) that keeps popping up?

JOHN COOK:  I don't know.  That was a tough one.  It's about winning out here for sure, and winning championships.  We've all won.  That's why it's the Champions Tour.  The guys out here have won a lot of events.  So any time that you have a chance to win and don't, it's disappointing. 

I felt like last week at Boca, I did everything I could do down the stretch.  I hit quality shots, I made nice putts, the playoffs I hit two good shots, I had a chance.  The same putt I had in regulation and, unfortunately, Bernard didn't think it was going to get, he was going to let it get there. 

            But like I said last week, Hall‑of‑Famers do stuff like that. My playoffs out here, I've hit quality golf shots and lost all three, so it's hard to swallow. But what are you going to do? You just keep plugging along and have confidence in your game, and I certainly like Newport Beach Country Club and hope to improve on the last couple of years.

Q.            The Senior Open and JELD‑WEN?

JOHN COOK:  Senior Open and JELD‑WEN up in Bend last year.  That was a tough one because I lost that tournament.  That was mine.  I lost that one.  The Senior Open, I mean, it's a hard golf course. I kind of had an unfortunate break on 18 on Sunday.  But, still, I got in the playoff and had my chances and guys birdied their first playoff holes. That's pretty tough.

Q.            How did you do in playoffs on the regular TOUR?

JOHN COOK:  I was 3-3. I got in a lot of them.

Q.            Do you like traditional, tree-lined courses like Newport?  The new courses being built today are all elevation changes and carts only. 

JOHN COOK:  Yes, very little definition, not a lot of character. You get courses like here where there is a lot of character.  The tree lines shaped the holes.  There is really no mystery on the type of golf shots that you have to hit. 

            You step up on No. 1, you have to hit a high draw. You get up on No. 2, you got to hit a high draw. (No.) 3, it just goes on and on.  You get to (No.) 9, you have to hit a big cut.  That's old time golf and that's the way we all learned.  Everybody out here learned to play golf on golf courses like this. Most of our tournaments, our events on the Champions Tour, are on golf courses a lot like this.

            Boca was very much like this golf course. We don't play Valencia, anymore but Valencia was pretty much like this, a shaper.  You have to hit shapes.  Iron shots, right trajectory into the greens. You have to put the ball in the right spot on the green to keep it on the green. Nowadays, it's blast away and not a lot of character, not a lot of definition to the type of golf that you play. So when we get to courses like this, we are very familiar with this. 

Q. Do you think it hurts that, the new courses, you can't walk the way the game was meant to be played?

JOHN COOK:  Yes, definitely.  I don't know if it's progress, but that's just the way that the game has gone.  The courses they build now are developments.  There is housing.  Basically, the piece of property the golf course is on is the worst piece of property around, the worst piece of land around the property.  The homes get the good land and all of the good venues, the vistas and the golf course just kind of has to just fit in. Sometimes you got to build these big, big golf courses because they're housing developments. 

            So when you get to a course like this, where it just kind of fit in, it was here, and they built around it. Big Canyon is the same way. The golf course is just there. It's beautiful the way it's routed and the elevation changes. El Niguel is the same.  A lot of the golf courses around here are like that. 

It's kind of the way that golf has gone with the big properties, big golf courses. We don't play many of those on our Tour.  But I know the PGA TOUR does. That's what they get.

Q.            Like Colonial and Sony are a few of the ones where you have to work the ball?

JOHN COOK:  Yes, Harbortown and definitely Colonial. Waialae, they are very similar.

Q.            So what do you consider your Top‑5 courses on this Tour?

JOHN COOK:  So far, definitely, this one we all love.  I like Boca.  Boca has a lot of character.  It's similar to this.  It's not the length that gets you.  But it's, certainly, the quality of golf shot, and the premium on driving your golf ball. I really haven't played one I haven't really liked, to tell you the truth.  I'm not just saying that.  We got 25 events, the majors at Sahalee and Carnoustie. We got some great spots. We get to play Pebble Beach, Old Del Monte, which is an old, old little tiny gem up there in Monterey.

Q.            San Antonio?

JOHN COOK:  Yes, Oak Hills. Outstanding. Get back to the old TPC Woodlands.  These are courses that we played on the PGA TOUR, so we are familiar with them, but they are back on our Tour for a reason.  That's because they got great character. I really haven't played one that didn't have something about it.

Q.            What do you think of Crosswater?

JOHN COOK:  Yes, even that, the way it kind of runs along the Deschutes River.  It's open.  It's not like it's tree-lined, but it certainly has character. That the Deschutes flows through.  There is a lot of good golf courses that we play.

            The one in Tampa is good, that one. TPC, there, is outstanding.  So we are pretty lucky on this Tour.  We play some good ones.  It makes you want to play them all.  There is really not one where I say, ‘I hate that course. I don't want to go back there.’ I don't know why you would hate it. It's got a lot of character.  It's a lot of golf courses that we grew up on. 

Q.            John, what do you have to say about the impact Fred Couples has made so far?

JOHN COOK:  It's great to have Fred out.  We would like to have him out as much as he feels like he wants to play.  You know that when Fred is in the field, he is the guy, now the guy to beat.  He brings a lot to our Tour. Our Tour was doing well, and now it's going to even do better. I think it brings some exposure to the Champions Tour and get his following out to play, and he knows he's got to play well to win. That's what it's about out here, is winning. 

            You could go play the regular TOUR and contend and make cuts, but we are all used to winning tournaments and beating good fields, and he has shown, obviously, that he can make that transition, and I think the guys have welcomed him, obviously.  We are all great friends, have been since we were kids, and it's great to see old friends come out to play and compete, and we are glad that he is choosing to play on our Tour. We are happy about that. 

            We also understand that he wants to play the regular TOUR when he can and that's fine, too. 

I think it just shows the quality of play out here, when he goes back and forth and he brings his game to here, and then takes it back there and can compete.  I think there is a number of Champions Tour players that can go back and forth and compete and that just shows you the strength of our Tour.  It's great to have Fred. 

Q.            Do you know him pretty well?

JOHN COOK:  Oh, yes.

Q.            Do you have any funny stories to share about him?

JOHN COOK:  Well, not really.  Fred is what you get. That is, exactly what you see is exactly how he is.  He just moves along, a long flowing swing, kills it.  It looks like he doesn't care, and he doesn't care. It's kind of the way he is. There is no real mystery to Fred Couples. He is very, very good. Has always been very good.  He never really had that down time where he lost his game or anything.

            He has been consistent through his 25 plus years on TOUR and remains that way. He has played his own schedule, which is a tribute to him. He has never forced a schedule on himself. If he feels like he is not well enough to play, he doesn't play. We are excited to have him out and healthy for as long as he can be and we look forward to competing against him, because if you beat him, you beat one of the best players of all time. He might be a Hall of Famer in the future, at some point.  I would certainly think he has had a great impact on the game. We have a lot of Hall of Famers out here and a lot of borderline, future Hall of Famers. When you start beating these guys, you beat some pretty good players.

Q.            The new blood coming on Tour, the Couples and Lehmans, does that make the window of opportunity for you a little smaller?

JOHN COOK:  No, I like it. We beat them on the PGA TOUR. There is no reason why you don't feel like you can beat them on the Champions Tour, as long and you stay healthy and keep working, and still love to compete. I still love to compete.  I'm trying to say as healthy as I can and to keep that window open for as long as I can.

            You get Hale Irwin, who kind of resurrected his game a little bit and he is 63 or 64 years old. And you see Tom (Watson) at 60 years old playing and Gil Morgan still strong as ever. There is really no reason that you feel like your window is closing as long as you stay healthy.  That's the big thing. If I could stay healthy, I could play a long time and I feel like I can compete as long as I can. 

            The caliber of play coming out is obviously very good – (Tom) Pernice (Jr.) and (Tom) Lehman and Fred (Couples) coming out, and Tommy Armour and Corey (Pavin). These guys have won a lot of tournaments and we have as well. It's just going to get stronger and stronger. So you really know, if you win an event, and everybody plays every week so it's not like guys are taking weeks off, so you know that you beat the best that we have to offer.

DAVE SENKO:  Thanks, John.

JOHN COOK:  Thank you.