Round 3 Notebook: Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am

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Weather: Mostly sunny with high temperatures in the low-to-mid-80s and winds from the NNW at 6-12 mph.

• John Cook sank an 6-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Jay Don Blake and win the 24th annual Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Cook had gone to the 54th hole with a two-stroke lead over Russ Cochran and Blake and appeared in command. However, he hit his second shot into the water which eventually resulted in a double bogey. Cook had an opportunity to win the title outright but missed a 23-foot putt, sending him into the playoff with Blake after Cochran made a bogey at No. 18. Cook hit two good shots and his second, a 6-iron from 168 yards landed six feet short. He converted the putt for the win after Blake's drive and second shot found bunkers.

• Final Results: 1) John Cook/204 (-9); 2) Jay Don Blake/204 (-9); T3) Russ Cochran & Joe Ozaki/206 (-7); T5) Tom Pernice Jr., & Michael Allen/208 (-5); T7) Olin Browne & Nick Price/209 (-4). (Note: Cook made a birdie-3 on the first extra hole for the win).

• Cook claims his seventh career victory on the Champions Tour in his 81st start and joins Tom Lehman as a two-time winner on the circuit this year. He started the 2011 season with a victory at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

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• Cook also wins multiple events in a season for the fourth time in his TOUR career (1992, 1996, 2009).

• Cook also ends an 0-106 victory drought in Florida (0-95 on the PGA TOUR, 0-11 on the Champions Tour) and wins the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in his fourth appearance in the event. His best previous finish was fourth in 2008.

• With his win, Cook earns 255 Charles Schwab Cup points and moves into second place in the season-long race with 560 total points on the season. Lehman still leads with 694 points.

• Cook's victory also ended a 0-4 drought in playoffs on the Champions Tour.

• Cook's final-round 73 was the highest finish by a winner since Eduardo Romero closed with a 73 in the 2008 U.S. Senior Open.

• Sunday's playoff was the third in tournament history and the first since 1992.

• Olin Browne posted his fifth top-10 finish in as many starts this year when he finished T7. He leads all players in that category this year. Browne has now posted 15 consecutive sub-par rounds after a 1-under-par 70.

• Speaking of top-10 finishes, 65-year-old Hale Irwin posted his third in 2011 with a T9 effort. It was Irwin's 201st top-10 finish of his illustrious Champions Tour career, leaving him just two shy of Bob Charles record of 203. It was also Irwin's ninth in this tournament in 13 starts and the nine top-10s are the most in event history, one more than Charles.

• Irwin earned $40,800 with his T9 finish which pushed his career earnings in this event to $932,534 and he is now the all-time career money leader. Bruce Fleisher was the previous leader at $924,514.

• Jay Don Blake's second-place finish was his best showing in 31 Champions Tour starts. His previous best was a T3 at the 2010 Senior British Open. Blake earned a check for $149,600, largest of his Champions Tour career.

• Jim Thorpe finished T59 in his first start in over a year, while Scott Hoch was T25 after more than a year away.

• Joe Ozaki had his second consecutive T3 finish in a Champions Tour event. Ozaki, whose home was damaged in the recent Japan earthquake, was also T3 in his last start at the Toshiba Classic in early March.

• Nick Price finished T7 for his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. During his current run, Price has earned an average of $133,933 per start.

• The field scoring average for the event was 72.216, the highest average since 2007 when the field averaged 74.071. Sunday's final-round average was 72.753.

• The most difficult hole was No. 17 with an average of 3.276, while No. 15 was second and No. 18 third. The easiest hole was No. 12 with an average of 4.703.

• Blake and Art Ensley (Houston, Texas) teamed up to capture the pro-am portion of the tournament. The pair finished with a 54-hole total of 25-under-par 188. It was Ensley's fourth appearance in the tournament. Cook and his partner Todd Wagner finished two behind.