SHRINERS HOSPITALS FOR CHILDREN OPEN

October 9, 2020

Austin Cook

TPC Summerlin

Quick Quotes

Q. Austin, buried the first three; end up shooting 6-under 65 and you're 14-under heading to the weekend. Just thoughts on how the round went today.

AUSTIN COOK: You know, the round was really good. It was another round a lot like yesterday where I didn't really put myself into trouble. Made one bogey today and just kind of -- I had two-putt that I didn't commit on and those were the two about four, five-footers that I missed.

Overall it was a great day.

Q. 126 feet worth of putts today. I think four of your first birdies were inside ten feet. Then you made a long one on the 3rd hole, the toughest on the golf course. You rolled in that 35-footer. How about the flat stick?

AUSTIN COOK: It's working right now. Like I said yesterday, going to a completely different style last week kind of taught me something.

I was able to apply that to this week, and so far it's been working.

Q. And when you hit that tee shot on 8, the par-3, I'm thinking, Wow, he's got a chance. Maybe these last two holes, a little cushion. What were you thinking there and what happened on those last two?

AUSTIN COOK: I pushed the drive on 8 and it was the right distance and took a nice bounce off the right collar and just overplayed the putt just a little bit, and that was one of them that I wasn't 100% on and still pulled the trigger.

Then, yeah, disappointing on 9, the short par-5, not making birdie. We're in a good spot going into the week. Got a lot of good vibes going, so I'm excited.

Q. Tied for the top. I know it wasn't quite the season you were looking at last year, but you got to feel really good about your game right now heading to Saturday.

AUSTIN COOK: Yeah, the last year and a half it's slowly getting better and better. It's been a long process, but it's finally coming through. I'm just excited that all the hard work is finally paying off.

Q. Hot start. Birdied the first three holes. Kept you going. 14-under heading into the weekend. What went so well for you out there today?

AUSTIN COOK: A little bit of everything. Ball-striking is well right now, it's really good. Putting really well. Few times I've had to chip I've overall chipped pretty well.

But this was is golf course I went through it last night and didn't realize how many wedges you're hitting in. I'm hitting them close, giving myself good opportunities, hitting fairways, giving myself opportunities on the greens and some putts are going in.

Q. You talked about last week. You said that it kid of taught you something. What did it teach you in your putting stroke, that transition back to conventional?

AUSTIN COOK: That I was hitting the ball. I wasn't rolling the ball. My caddie is always -- he said for the last year, Roll it, roll it. I really hasn't quite understood it, hadn't really clicked.

Last week just letting the weight of the club do it and not put any extra pop on it, and put it into play this week with the short putter, and it's just working out.

Q. You worked hard the last year and a half. (Indiscernible) ...shows in your scores and results. It's sometimes hard when you're working hard and it's just not showing. You got to stay positive knowing these days are going to come.

AUSTIN COOK: Yeah, yeah. It's -- it was very hard the last two years really to stay patient. Beginning of January started working with a mental coach and really working on the patience, just sticking to the process and really getting committed to every shot.

Things are starting to come together.