MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen,
John Cook shot a 66 today and finished 6 under par for the Championship.
Q.
Hi, John. How are you?
JOHN COOK: Hi.
Q.
Could you talk about your round today.
4 under, that's pretty good.
Especially with what was going on out there.
JOHN COOK: Yeah, it was not the greatest of starts to
play No. 1 like I did, but I hung in there and made a par. From then on, I really had control of what I
was doing.
I felt good about the golf course,
even though the wind came from a different direction. I felt like my tee ball lines were good, my
eye lines were good. So I was confident
with the driver and just drove it everywhere and drove it really nicely today.
Took advantage of some really good
shots. Left maybe a couple out
there. The bogey at 16, obviously,
hurt. Just had a little 9 iron in there. Maybe got a little greedy with my line. Thinking I need to make one here and I can
make another one, never know what might happen.
But got a little greedy with the line, maybe, and didn't get a very good
bounce. So made bogey.
But other than that, finished
strong, finished with a birdie. So I was
happy.
Q.
What's your overall impression of Indianwood and how it played this
week?
JOHN COOK: I can't say enough about it. My caddie, Tommy Anderson, is from Shelby
Township, and he's been up here, and he's played it and been around. He said J.C., you'll love it. You're going to like this course. I promise you, you're going to like this
course.
Literally, on Sunday afternoon I
didn't even know if I was going to play because I had neck spasms and I had to
withdraw last week on Saturday morning leading the tournament. I felt just get
me ready somehow.
My guys there in Newport, Tim Brown,
really worked on me Sunday night and Monday, got me ready to at least get on a
plane.
Once I got here ‑‑ I played
late Wednesday afternoon, was the only practice round. As soon as I stepped up on the 10th tee, I
went, yeah, I get this. This is all
right. And the more I played it, the
more comfortable I got.
And then I didn't play badly on
Friday, but I didn't hit enough fairways to really be aggressive and take
advantage of any opportunities. But
Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, I played well.
I think it's because you get to a
place that you like the looks of and there's very few awkward‑looking shots
that don't fit your eye. They all fit
your eye, and that's always good.
Q.
If you're driving it, the rough is no concern.
JOHN COOK: If you're driving it good, and I was driving
it really solidly. Friday was just a
little bit off. I wasn't quite sure
where I was going. But Saturday, Sunday,
I drove the ball beautifully and hit my spots and took advantage of some
opportunities.
Q.
What is it about this course that has bitten a couple of players,
especially like Kite, Langer, who have been in the lead and it's kind of cut
them back a little bit because guys like you have come up in the pack. What is it that you see, even after being
here so many days, that can still get you?
JOHN COOK: You can certainly be in the wrong spot off
the tee, and you can certainly be in the wrong spot on the green. And I think they did a great job with the
speed of the greens because they weren't overly quick, but you still had to pay
attention because you had lots of big ‑‑ you had to hit it 8 feet to hit
it 50 feet, a lot of those.
So you had to pay attention. And if you got on the wrong ‑‑ in the
wrong places, it didn't take much to make bogeys and even doubles. It didn't take that bad of a shot to get you
offline. There's a lot of danger out
there, there really is. Even the
shortest holes have places where you can't be.
Great set of par 3s, especially
coming in. Those two on the back side
are fantastic. A lot of great
holes. 12's one of the best holes we play
all year. Just a great variety of golf,
and if you're just a little bit off, it will get you.
Q.
How about the round you had today and the reception from the fans that
have been waiting for major golf, big‑time golf to get back. Were you feeling the vibe?
JOHN COOK: Definitely.
This is a major championship crowd.
They love their golf up here. I
know that. I've spent a lot of time in
this area. My two roommates in college
are from here. I went to a different
school down there in the South.
For the most part, the fans were
pretty cordial. There was a few out
there that, you know, thought that their one win in the last ten years gave
them reason to spout off, but it was all in fun. It's all in great fun.
Like I said, the people up here love
their golf, and they loved it when the Buick Open was up here. They loved it when any Major was up here at
Oakland Hills or wherever it might be here with the gals. Over at Benton Harbor, we had great
crowds. It really felt like major
championship atmospheres. That's a great
tribute to the kind of people that are up here.
Q.
Appreciate it. Thank you very
much.
JOHN COOK: Thank you.