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CAREERBUILDER CHALLENGEJanuary 18, 2018Austin CookLa Quinta, California Q. How much did you play or practice here? AUSTIN COOK: I played all 18 Stadium on Tuesday. Q. I don't care that the wind didn't blow, the rough's down, the greens are receptive, when you shoot 63 you're golfing the ball. AUSTIN COOK: Yeah, today was great. The conditions were perfect, but I always loved desert golf and I was just hitting the ball well and seeing good lines on the greens and hitting good putts. Q. Since you were fortunate enough to win last year you went to Kapalua and went to Sony, how much of these golf courses did you see? AUSTIN COOK: This one I got to see all of Stadium, play all of Stadium, I guess, and then yesterday I did a mixture of the Nicklaus and then La Quinta, I played about seven here and nine over there and just got to at least see them, not play them. Q. Your caddie Kip knows the golf course, so that's a big advantage. Talk to me about the par-5s. You played them in 5-under par, four par-5s, 5-under par including an eagle. AUSTIN COOK: Yeah, I was able to hit good drives, solid drives to give myself a chance to go for all of the greens, so that's always nice. I think the eagle, that was the only one that I hit and then the other three I just was able to hit get the ball up-and-down. That eagle shot or the one I made eagle was a very pretty hybrid, straight at it to about four feet. So that was nice. Q. You had a nice look at going 10-under par on the 17th green. Misread, speed wrong, I know you were frustrated that didn't go in. AUSTIN COOK: A little bit of both. We saw -- one of the amateurs had a putt on a similar line and we kind of changed our read based on that and now that we hit the putt we shouldn't have, but I didn't even hit the ball hard enough to get to the hole, so it didn't matter in the end anyway. Q. I thought Kip gave you a good read on 18. AUSTIN COOK: Yeah, that first putt that was a good read. Q. So you're responsible for the -- AUSTIN COOK: No, 18 we had a few things in the back swing, but you can't blame it on that, and, no, the first one I just hammered that. And the second one, yeah, he gave me a great read and I hit it there and it went in. Q. Terrific start to the round. 5-under par through five holes. What was the key to the fast start? AUSTIN COOK: I was able to hit the ball right where we wanted, gave ourselves really good chances at birdie. And on the par-3 third we missed that green there and easy up-and-down and my caddie goes, well, there goes the dream of 18 birdies. So we got one back there on the next hole and just kind of just kept it going the whole round. Q. You shoot 30 on the front nine. You then birdie 10 and 11. You're 8-under. Was the number 59 entering your head? AUSTIN COOK: Honestly, I had no clue at how low I was. I knew I was playing good golf and just wanted to continue. It never really crept into my mind all day, luckily, I think I would have probably put a little more pressure on myself, but I was just glad to put a good round in, it's a first round and hopefully it continues. Q. Your fourth start as a PGA member you win. What did this mean to you, not just the win but the fact that you birdied three out of the last four to do so? AUSTIN COOK: That was a big, proud moment for myself, knowing that I can finish a tournament, I can come in with a 36-hole lead, 54-hole lead and keep the lead and maintain the lead and then finish the tournament off strong. I think it was one of the things that I've proven to myself that now that I can do it and it just meant the world to me. Q. Your grandfather in Memphis 1965 played the final round with Jack Nicklaus. How many times has he told you that story? AUSTIN COOK: I actually found out from my dad. He passed away 12 years ago now or 10 years ago now and my dad was the one that told me that story and he was, he goes, he was a little boy and he says, I remember running through the legs of everybody just to get up to the ropes just so he could watch some of his dad, because there was so many people there for Jack. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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