Cook blog: Bracing for tougher competition in 2010

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

John Cook (right, with Jay Haas) came within an eyelash of winning the Charles Schwab Cup in 2009.

John Cook is starting his third full season on the Champions Tour and heads into the 2010 with four career victories on the Champions Tour. The former Ohio State standout finished with two wins in his last three starts in 2009, including the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. An 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Cook talks about his offseason, his goals for 2010 and being on hand as his Ohio State Buckeyes' defeated Oregon in this year's Rose Bowl game.

As I reflect back to the end of 2009, I can only say that I played perhaps the best golf of my career. Not quite sure what clicked in except the work that I put in the past two years finally went to work. I stayed healthy with the great care I have gotten from Justin Frandson, my trainer, and Dr. Tim Brown, who is keeping this 52-year-old body functioning. I am certainly looking forward to 2010 and with some new "rookies" coming on board, I need to be ready to play.

My offseason was spent with family and friends. I played with my father and my son in the Isleworth father-son event over Thanksgiving holiday. Jason and I finished third and Dad and I finish fifth. Not bad considering Jason and I played with no strokes against the very formidable teams at Isleworth. We spent two weeks in Sun Valley, Idaho, our favorite place, watched our family enjoy the mountain as I licked my chops knowing my skiing days are over for a few more years.

The next highlight of the offseason was watching The Ohio State University Buckeyes handle the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl, sorry Peter J. We had 20 people rise to the occasion as our bus left our house at 6:45 a.m. on New Year's Day. We Buckeyes can finally smile at the end of the year after being disappointed the last few years. They finished like champions.

After taking a month off, I have started training and practicing to get ready for the upcoming season. We have been at our SoCal house and the weather has been spectacular. I practice at Virginia CC in Long Beach with my coach Jamie Mulligan and get to play with Jamie's stable of young talent, John Mallinger, John Merrick, Peter Tomasulo and my son, Jason. These kids keep me young. I also play at Big Canyon CC with a great group of guys and El Niguel C.C. with another great group of guys. I head down to the desert every couple of days to the Madison Club for more practice and get a ton of work done.

I certainly look forward to playing at Hualalai in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship. My wife Jan and I have fallen in love with the Big Island and with my family going, along with a couple great friends, I expect another great week. The Four Seasons has a knack for spoiling people and what a great place to start the year.

My only goals for 2010 are to keep improving and give myself chances to win. Staying healthy is the No. 1 goal and if I can do that, I feel like I can stay competitive. We on the Champions Tour look forward to having Fred Couples, Corey Pavin and Tommy Armour joining our tour. Look for the 2010 Champions Tour season to be very exciting with a top-notch brand of golf.