Cook ready for late-season Schwab Cup run

text size

Levey/Getty Images

John Cook's victory at the Administaff Small Business Classic was a step in the right direction to claim the Charles Schwab Cup.

Oct. 18, 2009
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- One down, two to go.

And, yes, John Cook is well aware that three wins in a row is exactly what it's going to take for him to pull off an upset and win this year's Charles Schwab Cup.

Even then, he might need a little help.

Cook jumped up two spots into fifth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings after coming from behind to win his first event of the year -- the Administaff Small Business Classic -- but he's still on the outside looking in. As in 1,073 points behind leader Loren Roberts and one of only five players with a shot. The only one who has to win out and hope those ahead of him stumble.

But all he's asking himself for -- like he did this week -- is a chance.

After letting a couple of tournaments slip away this season -- most notably the JELD-WEN Tradition, which he lost to Mike Reid in a playoff -- Cook finally took care of business and finished one off, closing with a 4-under-par 68 to beat Jay Haas and Bob Tway by two shots.

"I haven't walked off 54th or 72nd hole of our weeks with a real good taste in my mouth,'' Cook said. "Until today.''

Cook strolled off the 18th hole knowing he'd finished this one off. He'd stepped it up. Been aggressive most of the day; patient the rest. He trusted his gut. Hit a great shot into 18 at the TPC at The Woodlands, a green where he lost the Shell Houston Open in 1999 to a great shot by Stuart Appleby.

"Stuart creased a 3-iron in there,'' he said.

This time, with a one-shot lead, Cook striped one down there and two-putted for par. Then he waited for Haas to finish. Haas missed a 30-foot down-hill side-hill birdie try, then missed it coming back to bogey and fall into a tie with Tway.

The real key to the back nine? Cook birdied the tough 17th hole with a perfect 9-iron approach to 12 feet to break a deadlock with Haas and take the lead.

"I got a great read on (playing partner) Bruce Lietzke's putt,'' Cook said. "My initial read right edge, when I saw his putt go right, I trusted myself. It hit straight.''

And it dove into the cup.

"To tell you the truth I've had trouble finishing events this year,'' Cook said. "I get ahead of myself and today I didn't do that. I wanted to make sure I trusted what I was thinking coming down the stretch.''

All of which bodes well for next week at the AT&T Championship just down the road in San Antonio -- and the second leg of his stretch run. It doesn't hurt that he's the two-time defending champion there and that all of his Champions Tour wins have come in Texas -- plus one PGA TOUR victory, the 1998 GTE Byron Nelson Classic.

The Administaff win came on a tough course.

"There's danger everywhere out there,'' Cook said. "You have to step up.''

The finishing holes are some of the best -- the par-3 16th with one of the narrowest greens on tour, the 17th, known as the Devil's Bathtub and the 18th where Curtis Strange pulled off the shot of a lifetime in 1988 to eventually beat Greg Norman in a playoff.

Cook finished par-birdie-par, coming oh-so-close to another birdie at the 16th where he flagged his tee shot, then missed the putt.

The number in his mind at the start of the day was 12-under par. He finished at 11-under. "I thought 12 would win,'' he said, "or be close.''

Early in the round, second-round leader Dan Forsman got to 11-under twice, but a tripled the 14th to fall out of contention. Haas, who had won the last two Champions event this year, stumbled with a double-bogey at the seventh, but fought back to get to 10-under with a birdie at 14.

But Cook? He was steady. And patient.

Cook, who also tied for fourth at the 2001 Shell Houston Open on this course, came in with nine top 10s this season. Yes, the loss to Reid was the most painful. He had a chance to win at 18, but "hit my one bad shot of the week by not trusting myself.'' It went into a playoff and Reid stepped up.

Sunday, Cook was all smiles. He played Oak Hill when it hosted the Texas Open on the PGA TOUR and he's won there the last two years. And if he pull off a three-fer there, he heads into the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in two weeks on a serious roll.

And with a chance for an upset.

"I was happy to finish like you're supposed to finish,'' he said. "A friend of mine always tells me however you finish, finish like a champion. I think I did today.''