Sr. British win shows Cochran growing as a closer

text size

Inglis/Getty Images

As it turned out, a break from the Champions Tour due to injury served Russ Cochran quite well.

Russ Cochran's resume for the 2011 Champions Tour season stands out in several ways.

In nine starts, he has finished no worse than 12th in any of them.

U.S. SENIOR OPEN

Full field
Round 1 Tee times
Power Rankings
Open notebook
Charles Schwab Cup

In six of his tournaments, he has been tied for fourth or better, with last week's major breakthrough victory at the Senior Open at Walton Heath in England the high-water mark. That's a level of performance that goes well beyond consistent. It's remarkable. Week after week, Cochran has put himself into contention on the Champions Tour.

If there had been a concern, it was the inability to finish golf tournaments and, frankly, it was beginning to weigh on Cochran. Among his seven top 10 finishes this year were back-to-back T4s at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and the Allianz Championship to open the season. In his third start, the lefthander tied for third at The ACE Group Classic. Cochran had the lead in Hawaii and The ACE Group Classic.

There were two more T3s in successive starts in April, when he led at The Outback but again failed to post his first victory of 2011. Then came a lengthy layoff to nurse an injured right wrist.

The time away from competitive golf may have been a blessing. It got Cochran to thinking about his game and his approach. On the eve of the final round at Walton Heath, Cochran had another revelation of sorts. He had a vision of Tom Watson's methodology and when you're playing in Great Britain -- England, Scotland or elsewhere -- it's never a bad thing to contemplate how Watson, the five-time British Open champion, does things.

"Tom gets his shot, he hits it and he goes after it," Cochran said. "And he plays at a good pace. He tries to pick the right shot, and goes right after it. I kind of had that attitude that I really didn't care whether I won or lost, but I was confident in my game that if I played well, that I would fare well.

"I think it relaxed me to the point where I could come out aggressively. I felt like I wanted to get as many under-par as I could. I think that was the big thing for me."

Cochran makes no secret of his affection for golf in Great Britain, whether it's England or Scotland. He savors the opportunity and it elevates his game.

"I felt like that if I was going to do some damage in a major and win a major, it probably would (be in Great Britain)," said Cochran, who tied for third last year at the Senior British at Carnoustie. "I enjoy the type of golf it is. I am more single-minded over here, and I just love the golf over here."

Cochran will have two opportunities to make the trans-Atlantic trip next year. The Senior Open will be held at Turnberry and by winning at Walton Heath, he earned an exemption into The Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. That's a very nice doubleheader.

Cochran arrives at Inverness Club for this week's U.S. Senior Open with plenty of positives. He's hitting the ball solidly with a Greens in Regulation statistic of 76.72 percent, second behind only Tom Lehman's 78.82 on the Champions Tour. Cochran's focus is sharp and his confidence is high. He's a golfer who knows how to turn a victory into a streak.

Power Rankings

Toledo native son John Cook comes in No. 2 in this week's list, behind Russ Cochran. Rankings

Cochran won his first two events last year as a sophomore on the Champions Tour. The victories came in successive events divided by an ocean and a continent. He won the inaugural Posco E&C Songdo Championship in Korea and the SAS Championship in North Carolina. He's counting on the karma from Walton Heath continuing this week at Inverness.

"I'm certainly the kind of guy that carries those good feelings," Cochran said when asked about his chances in Toledo. "The more I'm finding out about winning, it has more to do with getting that ball up-and-down. It has to do with putting the ball in the fairway, and then you know, just rolling the heck out of it."

Cochran played in the 1993 PGA Championship at Inverness. He opened with 69 and eventually finished T44 with a 284 total. He knows the challenge Inverness will pose but his finish at Walton Heath proves his game is up to any task.

Cochran went around Walton Heath with a pair of 67s on the weekend. In Saturday's third round, he made seven birdies on the first 11 holes to get into the hunt. In the final round, he nearly repeated the feat, this time making six birdies on the first 10 holes. Cochran wasn't surprised.

"The great thing about what I've been doing with my game the last two or three years is getting in contention," he said after Saturday's third round. "Maybe I'm just hard-headed or whatever but I feel like I'm going to win."

Cochran knew exactly what to expect for the final round in England. He knew there would be fast starts and multiple challenges. His goal was to be among the hot starters -- and hope nobody was warmer.

Indeed, somebody was sizzling at Walton Heath. That man was Cochran.