COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – John Cook is 50?
No way. He still resembles the kid next door. He looks a little too fresh, a little too innocent.
Check his birth certificate. Give him a lie detector test. Ask him to show his senior credentials: sore knees, tight back, aching hands.
Age withstanding, Cook shot 4-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round of the U.S. Senior Open, being played on the East Course at The Broadmoor.
“He is playing better than anyone else right now,” said defending champion Brad Bryant. “He’s my pick this week.”
All year, Cook has been among the hottest players in senior golf – 17 Champions Tour events, 10 top-10 finishes, a playoff loss to Bruce Vaughan in the Senior British Open.
Cook won the 2007 AT&T Championship on the Champions Tour. The last of his 11 PGA Tour victories was the 2001 Renoe-Tahoe Open.
“Second is not good,” said Cook, referring to his failure in the Senior British. This statement alone was worth applauding, because Cook artfully avoided the dreadful “S verb” that has sprung from the mouth of Tiger Woods and others: “Second sucks.”
It should be noted that Cook and Woods are best buddies. They spoke Monday on the phone, with Woods offering encouragement if not advice to Cook.
“We had a good chat,” Cook said, remaining somewhat evasive. “He was very supportive.”
OK, John, show us something. You’ve got a 14-time major champion on your side, so win a senior major and get it over with. Ride this U.S. Senior Open horse all the way to the barn.
“In a USGA championship, there’s no mystery to what you have to do,” Cook said, “and that’s put the ball in play. I don’t think I missed a fairway (he didn’t, hitting 14 of 14). I struck the ball nicely, and I made a couple of nice par putts, which you have to do.”
With that statement, Cook arrived once again at the central theme of this championship: making putts.
Cook didn’t even line up his putt on his first hole (he started on No. 10). That’s because he hit a 6-iron to six inches.
“Nice way to start,” Cook said.
In case nobody noticed, Cook is fond of the word nice. A good shot is a nice shot, a good putt is a nice putt, and his first major victory would be – you guessed it – oh so nice.
On 13, Cook sank a 25-foot putt for another birdie. He was 2 under after four holes.
An 8-foot par save at 15 left him 2 under, although he bogeyed 17 after pulling a 5-iron into a bunker.
After making the turn in 1 under, he birdied No. 3 by making a tricky 12-foot downhill putt.
On 4, he jarred a 6-footer to save par. His putter was hot, although he didn’t need the putter at 6.
After his gap wedge shot hit the flagstick and bounced all the way off the green, he pitched in from 18 feet.
On 7, he added another birdie with a downhill 5-footer with a wicked break.
On 9, his final hole, he rapped home a 3-foot par saver after a wonderful pitch from short of the green.
“So I had a couple of nice par saves and a couple of nice birdies,” Cook summarized. “Maybe I left a couple of chances out there, but overall I’m very happy.’’
That’s nice, John. Now win, will you?
• • •
PUTTING IS THE STORY: Everyday golfers love to count their total putts for 18 holes. The best players in the world do it, too, albeit with different standards.
Cook had 27 putts on the treacherous greens at The Broadmoor. That was acceptable, although Cook admitted the total could have been lower.
Morris Hatalsky, who shot 67, had only 24 putts.
“These greens here are absolutely championship greens,” Hatalsky said. “There’s a lot of movement. You’ve got to put the ball in the right spot in order to feel confident about knocking putts in. Because of the terrain, everything running away from the mountains ... you are going to have an extremely fast putt. I had some putts where I barely took the putter back.”
Greg Norman, in the house with 70, stumbled around with 34 putts.
“I had three 3-putts,” Norman said. “These greens are huge greens, with a lot of slope to them, a lot of grain to them. You’re not going to make them all.”
Ben Crenshaw, known as one of golf’s greatest putters, totaled 29 putts while shooting 73.
And then there was Randy Reifers of Columbus, Ohio, the low amateur in the 2006 U.S. Senior Open. Reifers finished with 36 putts and a score of 80.
That’s not nice.
Posted: 7/31/2008
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