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OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE PRO-AM

April 16, 2011

Russ Cochran

LUTZ, FLORIDA

PHIL STAMBAUGH: Russ, even par on the front, three birdies on the back, and you get in with 68 and 132, one shot behind going into tomorrow's round. Couple general comments about the round, and then go through the four birdies and the one bogey.
RUSS COCHRAN: You know, it was a tough golf course out there today. We knew it when we got on the range. The wind was blowing about, I don't know, 15 to 20, I would say. And, you know, you knew you weren't going to be able to kind of stand up and just kind of free-wheel it over the putts.
You knew you were going to have to anchor in a little bit. You know playing in the afternoon the greens would be a little testy. You know, knew it was going to be a tough golf course.
Actually, when we got out there, you know, the wind let up just enough for the golf course to be a little bit accessible. I'm 10-under par, I guess, and I'm very, very happy to be 10-under par.
It's a tough golf course, tricky. I've made one bogey I guess in two days, so, you know, that's good playing for me.
I made birdie on 5. Made a good par putt on 1 to kind of hold me together a little bit.
Played on and went to No. 5 and hit a 4-iron off the tee and then hit a sand wedge to about maybe three feet there.
Went on and played kind of normal golf, and got over there on 8 and had about 35 feet and drove it up about four feet, maybe three and a half feet, and missed that. So it was three-putt and a bogey.
Came back on No. 12. Hit a great drive out there and actually only had a 5-iron in there. Caught a gust of wind and it shot the ball up and to the right. It was just on the bank short of the bunker, and made a good chip to about three feet and hit a good testy right-to-left three-footer there.
14, another par-5, I just chopped that hole up. I hit a good drive, but the second shot I got lazy with the layup shot and hit a 4-iron shot left in the bunker, you know, kind of up near the lip. But I went in there, and the ball had rolled back and I had a great lie. Only had 88 yards. I was able to take a sand wedge, a 54-degree, and really was just trying to get the ball anywhere on the green, looking for par. Came out great, hit, and spun back to about three feet; made that for birdie. So that was kind of a lucky break.
Actually hit it in there pretty good on 15, about 12 feet, and missed it.
16 missed the green left. Got it up and down.
17 hit a good 6-iron in there about six feet and made that.
Then hit a bad drive on 18 in the left rough. Hit it short right of the green and made a nice about seven-footer for par on the last putt for par.
So pretty much it. Not too exciting. You know, it was one of those days where I didn't feel like I could get super aggressive. You know, you're kind of battling the wind on your shots. And, of course, when you miss these greens, it's always a battle to get it up and in.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: We'll just go to questions.

Q. You mentioned yesterday that you were worried about your driver. It wasn't doing well on Thursday. How did that play out today?
RUSS COCHRAN: You know, there was so much wind out there that on some of the key holes I was able to hit 3-wood. So I piped that 3-wood today. I also hit a great drive on 12. So I hit some good drives as well.
I would say the only real one that got away from me was on 18. I probably didn't hit it 275 yards and was lucky for the ball to stop short of the bunker. It was kind of a squirrely shot.
But I stayed with my lines fairly well. It seemed like with this type wind that a lot of the key holes, you know, 8 and 9 and 4 -- you know, 10 I bombed a drive, 12 I bombed a drive -- but holes like 15 and 16 -- and 18 I could have hit 3-wood too, I guess -- but those ended up being 3-wood holes for me, so I didn't have to hit quite as many drives on those key holes.

Q. I'm sure you played with John Cook in the past. Talk about playing with him in the final group tomorrow, what you anticipate that being like.
RUSS COCHRAN: Well, you know, John, I don't know any other way to say this than, you know, I just have a ton of respect for his game. He's proven that he's a better player, has a better record, all that stuff.
My job is just to get out there and attack that course. I know I'm not going to beat John unless I have a good day. I'm going to try to attack the course and see what transpires.
But I you have a ton of respect - as everyone does out here - for his game. Doesn't make a lot of mistakes and has a solid game A to Z.
It has less to do with him than it has to do with me and trying to play as hard as I can and do something with a good score, you know.

Q. In this same kind of line of questioning with respect to John, you guys have had really good seasons so far. John's already won, and here you are in contention again. Talk about the seasons that you're both having and the momentum.
RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah, you know, I know he's -- I heard him -- I played right behind him at the tournament he won in Hawaii. I know he got it going there, and he got the putter really going too, he said. That makes for a nice day. That's best-case scenario. That doesn't always happen with all of us out here.
But, you know, I know from those conversations he had with the media on that tournament that he put in a good winter of work. I kind of feel like that's helped me out as well. I bought a place in Tequesta, Florida, so I spent all winter playing and working on my game and stuff.
I feel like that's kind of gotten me off too a little bit better start, too. I can't speak too much for his game, but I think that's given me a little bit of an edge.
It's funny the way these tournaments, if you're just looking at them on paper, you look at the strong finishes and you think, Well, he's really satisfied with his year. Couple of those finishes I probably really did a good job and finished in the number.
Then a couple of those finishes, you know, I didn't do near what I wanted to and had chances to win the tournaments and felt like maybe I should have won. So it's kind of weird the way that works. Sometimes you get hot and shoot a good last round and finish well; sometimes your expectations are to win and you don't perform anywhere near the way you want to.
So that's when been the case with me. I've been all over the charts. I've had a pretty good putting year at times and the driver was a little bit off, and then I drove it fantastic in Mississippi and couldn't do anything else too much. I've been kind of all over the charts.

Q. (No microphone.)
RUSS COCHRAN: You know what, those guys were great out there. I know Corey and Joe were a little frustrated. They were all over the hole. They couldn't get it to go the way they wanted to.
I think at this type of course, if you get it kind of behind the eight ball it's real hard to get the putts to go and hard to make up strokes. Super classy guys, both of them. I don't know how many times they were yelling out to Derrick when is he going to run for mayor. I told him he might need a left-handed assistant if he did that.
But he's a great guy, and he hits a lot of good winners out there. A lot of really good shots. I know he's frustrated. I thought he was going to squeeze the grip off his putter. On 14 I guess it was, the he hit a great drive and then some type of iron. I want to say a 3- or 4-iron. He hit it on the green to the middle, and it rolled back about 20 feet.
I think he did the right thing. He saw three for two. You don't get that many chances to do that. He took a bold run at it. It was kind of on a little crown and rolled about four and a half feet by and he missed that one.
So that upset him. The grip on his putter was feeling it I think a little bit. But, you know, he hit a lot of winners, a lot of great shots. He's got a good touch for a giving big guy, too.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: I might add too that Russ won the Pro Junior at the First Tee event at Pebble Beach last fall. Pretty good team play.
RUSS COCHRAN: Yep. That's right. Forgot about that.
PHIL STAMBAUGH: Russ, congratulations. Go get 'em tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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