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OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AM

April 15, 2011

Russ Cochran

LUTZ, FLORIDA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Russ, great start. 7-under, 64, including birdies on your first three holes. Give us a quick rundown on your day, and then we'll get some questions.
RUSS COCHRAN: You know what, I came here, and the golf course is very tough golf course and the greens are - depending on the pin placements - very hard to get it in the right spot.
I didn't expect to shoot anything real low. I was hoping to have a good solid round. I feel like if you shoot under par out here you've done a pretty good job.
That being said, I got off to such a great start. Birdied 10, 11, and 12. I think that kind of set the stage. It gives you freedom to -- you feel like you could possibly make a mistake or two.
I hit a couple wayward shots and got away with it, and then it kind of turned into one of those rounds where you didn't feel like you were going to make any bogeys, which I ended up not making any bogeys.
A great day for me.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: On your birdies, take us through the shot sequence.
RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah, hit a drive off the tee and 9-iron in there about maybe 13 feet, I guess. Made a fast putt going down the hill.
11 I hit a 7-iron in there to about maybe seven feet. Made that for birdie.
The 12th hole is a par-5, and I hit a driver just into the left rough. Hit it in the greenside bunker in two, and flipped it up about maybe a foot there. Hit a good bunker shot to about a foot and made birdie.
Then where is my next birdie over there?
PHIL STAMBAUGH: No. 1. You went 1, 3, 6, and 8.
RUSS COCHRAN: Okay. I think a key hole was 15. I hit my drive left. I had a right to left wind. I hit my drive left and was actually lucky to have it stay in the bunker. If it goes left of the bunker I'm in the hazard. So I hit it in the bunker left. Hit a good bunker shot out to about 25 feet and made a nice two-putt.
I went to 1 and hit a 3-wood and 9-iron in there - actually, I guess 8-iron in there - to about maybe 12 feet. Made that.
Went to No. 3. Made a nice up and down from the right of No. 2 over there. Short-sided myself, putted it up through the fringe, trickled it down to the hole to about three feet and made that.
Next birdie was on No. 3. Hit a good drive and a pitching wedge maybe 115 yards just to the right of the hole about 10 feet. Made that.
On 6 I hit an 8-iron to about seven feet and made that.
Then No. 8 I hit a 9-iron to about six inches and made that.
Nice up and down on No. 9. Hit it in the right rough. Short sided myself again on the left side there and flipped a sand wedge in there to about four feet and made that.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Okay. Questions.

Q. When you start at hot as you did birdieing the first three, do you have any indication of that on the range, or you just have no idea?
RUSS COCHRAN: You know what, you really don't. I'll tell you what was kind of funny. I played Old Memorial the other day from the back and shot 30 on the front side and just felt great driving it.
Then I came over here and played in the Pro-Am yesterday and didn't really drive it that way well. Hit it in the water two or three times and just didn't feel as good over it.
So I was a little shaky with the driver today. Then I kind of got stronger I think as the day went on, a little more confident as the day went on. I managed to get the ball just on the edges of the fairways.
And then, like I said, when you start off, the greens are so small, you start off on the 10th hole and you look at your options, and your options normally would be, Hey, it's the first hole of the day. Take it over in the middle of the green from 25 feet and two-putt.
It's just such a tough pin back left on a little tier that I said, Well, I have got no choice. I've got to take it right at the hole. So I took it at the hole and hit it in there about 12, 13 feet and made that.
So, you know, in a funny way, the course and the pin placements kind of dictated me being aggressive with my irons right off the start. So same thing on No. 2, or No. 11. You really don't have anyplace to bail, so you take aim and try to hit it right at it. Happened it hit a 7-iron right there about six, seven feet.
So those first three birdies on the first three holes, that gave me the luxury, I think, to play a little more comfortable given the fact that I drove it so poorly on Thursday. It helped me kind of erase those memories and get started on track.
So I think that was kind of the key to the whole day, and I think the big key to this golf course if you happen to get under par.

Q. Is it tough to stick with the driver when you feel kind of shaky on it knowing there are plenty of holes that you can carry on this course?
RUSS COCHRAN: Out here it is, yeah. Like I said, I was teasing my Pro-Am partners yesterday. They were going to see a personal record of me hitting it in the hazard, I thought.
But, you know, it turned out that -- you know, you're going to have to step up on these holes and make a quality swing and hit a quality shot. There are a few of them that I don't necessarily like because I'm kind of hitting it kind of at the edge of the water and cutting away from it.
I think a lot guys out here are right-handers obviously, and they're hitting it down the left side and cutting it. I think that might be a little more comfortable shot.
Nevertheless, it did afford me the luxury of sneaking back in there, and finally started making a few good swings.

Q. Couple of the guys said they were having a real difficult time today trying to get the release on the greens. One would run through, and then they would back off the next hole and it would come up short. Did you have any of that?
RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah, well, you know what, I hit it in there close a couple times, or a few times, but there is a lot of that goes on. I had one specifically I guess on No.4. I hit a pretty good 3-wood out there and had a 9-iron in there and thought I just striped it in there, and it flew maybe four yards too far and ended up with a lengthy putt for birdie.
I think that happens a lot out here. I think you got to start with getting the ball in the fairway so you can have a chance to spin it. And then, you know, you have to take a quick peek and try to figure out whether you're going to fly the ball into the greens or whether you're going to hit it downgrain.
But there are just some really unbelievably tricky shots out there. I know on the 13th hole it's a kind of a short hole, and hit it a little too far up there and only had 64, 65 yards to the hole. You have a lie out there, you're hitting to an elevated green where you only have probably the length of this table that you need to land it in.
It's not an easy shot because of reason you say: you can't control the spin the way you want to. You've got a lot shots like that. You've got to make a lot of good decisions, and you got to have a little bit of luck out here, too. Try to get some good 2-putts in.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Thanks, Russ.
RUSS COCHRAN: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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