What they said: John Cook

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MODERATOR: We welcome John Cook in the interview room this afternoon.

John, you started the year off in fine style with a win in Hawaii at Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, so this is our third event. So talk about your good play actually stemming back to last. Year and continuing over.

JOHN COOK: About the middle of last year through the end of the year, I played pretty well, very consistent. Probably from, oh, gosh, the Senior British on, I felt like I had a real nice run. I was rarely out of the Top 5 and captured one there at the end, and then of course started out well at Hualalai, had a nice run there.

So it was exciting and fun, but you know, I played so well and had not won and that was a little frustrating through the year, but I was competitive every single week. That's really all you can ask for. Then put it all together there at San Francisco and then kind of kept it going through the wintertime and had a nice start there at Hualalai, and last week actually hit the ball very nicely last week. I left a lot of shots out on the golf course, unfortunately. I was a little disappointed in my finish there, but I'll try to rebound this week.

I like this golf course. The weather is cooperating this year. Last year the wind chill was about 5. I never had so many layers on in Florida, I can't even remember having that, so it was tough. But beautiful this week, golf course is great. It's got another year of maturity under its belt and we kind of know where to go, so it should be a great event.

MODERATOR: We'll just go with questions. We have a microphone here.

Q. Slight topic change and just ask you about the Senior majors. With the success you've had in the regular Senior events, does that become a bigger focus for you now?

JOHN COOK: Yeah, definitely. I've been close enough, regular Tour and Champions Tour, to have not won one and that -- you know, it won't sit well until, you know, I either win one or a couple, or really keep contending and do the right things down the stretch.

I feel like I've let a number go in the last three years and I don't like that. So I just need to be a little bit more efficient when it comes down to that crunch time and really concentrating on those, really want to be ready for -- they're all really good golf courses, some I've had some success at. So I look forward to all of it with -- now the Senior Players is at Westchester. We all know Westchester. I haven't played Walaton Heath, but I understand it's phenomenal. Of course Valhalla we played and Inverness we played a ton and Shoal Creek as well. So we're familiar with them and I like them all. I really need to -- I really need to get over the -- that hump and add some of that to cap a resume.

Q. (inaudible)...being a concern that there's any carryover somehow, if there was any frustrations from the regular majors that somehow has lingered for you somehow, or do you try to block that out?

JOHN COOK: Well, you keep learning, and I've learned -- I had a real nice run at the majors in the early '90s, all the way through the middle '90s, and I didn't win any but I was close a lot.

The few that I've kind of fluttered away out here, yeah, I've made a couple mistakes really late and lost a couple playoffs to some birdies, which, you know, what can you do there? But I just felt like I shouldn't have been in that position to begin with and I need to finish stronger, I need to be better, and until that happens, I won't -- I don't sleep well.

Q. You mentioned the frustration for not winning. What happened when you did win? Was it something that was your time and it, you know --

JOHN COOK: Very much more more efficient. I didn't flutter away anything. I didn't -- you know, last year at the Schwab, I made one bogey for the week and really was never in trouble the whole week, especially on the back side on Sunday, and I just kept hitting good shot after good shot after good shot, and the only hole I actually could have made a bogey on was the last hole of the tournament, but I had a little bit of a cushion. I didn't want to do something really stupid, so I just kind of played it out to the right a little bit.

Then at Hualalai, I did the same thing, made five birdies on the back side and made one more and did the right things. It was just more efficient, just a little bit better at each area of my game. I had been that way pretty much since the middle of last year.

Q. I know you worked with Venturi when you were younger. Is there anything that he taught you or some things that even today are still, you know, in your mind?

JOHN COOK: Pretty much everything that we worked on from the time I was 14 to, you know, when we last worked together kind of in the early 2000s.

One great thing about Ken was he was always on method. It never changed, it was very consistent. My little box of notes all say the same thing, every one, which was great. It wasn't like, okay, now let's try this. It was the same methods. My faults were the same things and it would take him five minutes and I would get right straight back into whatever and I -- I've kept remembering that.

I learned so much from him, just not only how to swing a club but how to play and what to look for when you're on the course and in contention and all of that, because not only was he a great teacher and a great person and a great motivator, he was a great player and this is what he learned under pressure from Hogan and Nelson, his mentors.

I mean, how lucky am I to be in that pedigree with Hogan and Nelson, passing on to Venturi, passing on to me? One thing I never asked Ken, I never questioned him on anything. I think those guys knew a heck of a lot more than I did. So it really is, you know, very simplistic on what we always worked on and took to the golf course. We played a lot of holes and we worked together, not just hit a lot of balls, we played a lot of holes and talked about things. I think that those playing lessons were invaluable.

Q. You talked about the (inaudible )and not winning. Talk about just how hard it is to win on the Champions Tour. Can you talk about how hard it is -- there are only so many guys who can win each week?

JOHN COOK: Yeah, that's it, and they've all won. They're all winners. There's hundreds of tournaments, victories out here, and dozens of majors. It doesn't matter if you played three rounds on a 7,000-yard golf course. You can bring the best of the best and they're going to have trouble winning, too, because these guys are very seasoned, they are still very competitive. I think the only thing that's declining in our persona is sometimes health. If you've got your health, there's really no reason you shouldn't be competitive out here.

With that being said, the guys that come out that turn 50 that are supposed to just walk out here and dominate, that doesn't happen. These guys are still very good and they've won a lot of tournaments and they know how to win and they're still hungry. Otherwise, they wouldn't be out here playing. If you're not hungry and want to stay competitive, there's really no reason to be out here playing because it would be very frustrating for you because the guys are still very good.

Q. Calc was just in here, maybe slightly downplayed where he feels like he belongs in the pecking order of winning caliber ability on this Tour. Is that classic Calc?

And secondly, what is the respect factor that players have for him when it comes to his candor and his forthrightness?

JOHN COOK: Calc is just -- he's just that -- he's one of a kind, he really is, and in a great way. You always know where he stands, there's no B.S. It's great to have him out. I hope that he continues to support this Tour because we love having him out. He adds some great color to what we do. He's won a lot of golf tournaments. He's been very successful. He had an okay year last year and he's kind of relearning some things and new golf courses and all, and we expect him to be pretty strong and competitive this year.

Like I said before, just because you turn 50, doesn't mean you come out and now you're going to win six or eight times. That doesn't happen very often.

But he's the caliber of player that we like to have because he is a major championship winner. He's won a dozen tournaments. Big, big-time money winner and a great colorful character, which is what we have, and we've all been through many, many things together from our early years on TOUR all the way through the '90s when we were all playing good and winning championships to the ups and downs of life and the resurrection of careers and everything.

So Calc is a great addition to our Tour and we're glad that he's committing to play more and more and we look forward to seeing him more and more. Obviously, he can still be competitive on any Tour. I think he's going to find his niche out here and be competitive and we need that. We need those guys to stay competitive and enjoy themselves much and bring that good attitude out here.

Q. How would you describe your relationship with Tiger now and how do you think he'll do? You know, he's gone through a couple of swing changes previously in his career and now he's going through another one.

JOHN COOK: I spent all day Tuesday with him. At this time last year, we had not connected at all, but he was gone doing his things and getting his life in order. You know, I saw him just after we left here and had a great chat. Everything's okay. I said, You don't have to explain anything to me, I'm your friend, I want the best for you.

It's been that way. I haven't seen a lot of him because we've been on different coasts and all, but we keep in touch quite a bit. I did get to spend most of the day Tuesday with him and he's excited about what he's doing. It's just a matter of getting it onto the golf course under competition and what he and Sean have been working on. He now really has a great understanding. As of like Monday, it clicked, it finally clicked to him on what exactly where the face of the club needs to be at certain points, which really sounded to me like kind of old school Butch, but with a better face angle on his backswing, which means, wow, that's something really good.

But he was really feeling something special on Tuesday and it was really -- you know, just to stop and watch and see the excitement he had on his face and the flight of the golf ball as to what he was explaining to me what was going on in San Diego and Dubai. He said this is -- it's way better and way different. And this only happened on Monday and Tuesday he was just feeling it even more.

So we had a great chat about it and he is so happy in his life outside of golf. Everything couldn't be better. He really -- he wants to play well so badly that he's become one of us, one of those. He never had to struggle like that. He's 35 or 36 now and things happen. He wants it so bad, now he needs to get it onto the golf course and trust it and relax and just go play, because what I saw on Tuesday was vintage, vintage.

I said, Why don't you just go do that so I can stop having to answer all these questions for you? We're getting tired of answering these questions. We're glad to do it, though. He's in a good place, he really is. And he's playing quite a bit, so that's a good thing. I think that's what he needs is just reps, more reps, go play, just go out and play.

He's in a place where he doesn't think he has to hit that many balls now, he can just go play. He's not just grinding, grinding, grinding. He's got it. You know, he's playing the match play and maybe Doral and Bay Hill comes up, and next thing you know, it's Augusta. So going in, he's got a nice little flow going on golf courses he's done very well on.

Q. Competitively, has this been harder on him, this recent stretch, than any time you've known him?

JOHN COOK: I think frustration-wise, yeah, because he was lost last year, completely lost. He knew he had to make some sort of change because he just wasn't getting it, and nothing against Hank or what they were doing for the last -- it has nothing to do with that. He was just -- you know, it's hard enough to play golf and be competitive with all the other stuff going on, and now you throw in another wrinkle where you don't really trust what you're doing and then you make a change and you have to relearn again and you have to take it to a golf course and compete. It was just the hardest thing and it just was so frustrating for him because he didn't have really a clue, and he had always had a clue.

But now he's six or eight months into it and happy with it, getting it, and you can see it. His excitement is back, just the way he's portraying things and hold -- how he's -- his body language is upbeat again. It's not, you know, dreading the Masters. He welcomes it. That's what we all need. We all need him back. He wants it, too. He's not shy about it. He wants to be competitive again. He still wants that record. Obviously, he wouldn't be working as hard as he is if he didn't. It will be good to get him back in contention and finishing the deal.

MODERATOR: Anything else for John? Go ahead.

Q. The strong start you've been off to, does this feel like it could be another special year for you, keep on rolling, win, play well this week?

JOHN COOK: It's hard to project Florida and I never speculate, I just don't. I've done it before and it got me nowhere. I've had some nice starts in my career and I've parlayed that into some good years. I'm going to continue to work on my game and try to get better. Again, health-wise, we're okay right now. You never know at this age with what you're doing, but I feel like my off-course preparation is good and it's consistent and it's been helping the last three, four years. It's starting to really kick in and I feel good about that.

So if I can just maintain that and maintain my work ethic and wanting to play well. The schedule sets up great because you never get worn out, you never get golfed out because we don't have enough tournaments in a row to get golfed out, which is great for us. There's no reason why you cannot be competitive. There's no excuses. I look forward to the challenge of the rest of the year, getting off to a good start, but also continuing that. Like we talked about the majors, getting those majors set up and getting my game peaked in the right shape for those because I really feel like if I'm going to reach that next level of competition, I need to -- I need to capture something. It's been great. I've won six times. It's not -- you know, in three years, that's nothing -- it's no fluke, I don't think. But, you know, there's a few things missing on there that, you know, I'll keep grinding for.

MODERATOR: Good luck this week.

JOHN COOK: Thank you.