Interview transcript: Russ Cochran September 26, 2010 Prestonwood Country Club Cary, North Carolina MODERATOR: Okay. Russ Cochran shoots a final round 71. And I know it was a battle out there, but you win your second consecutive event. The first time in a while on American soil but, Russ, it was really quite a day out there. You join Bernhard, Freddie, and Nick as the fourth multiple winner on the Champion s Tour this year and RUSS COCHRAN: I never heard of those guys. MODERATOR: You join Tom Watson as only the second wire-to-wire winner, Champion s Tour, this year. Just a few thoughts about the day. Obviously, you knew the course was probably going to play different with a different wind, and Tom Pernice talked about that a few minutes ago so RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah. I was trying to I kind of alluded to it yesterday, and I knew that there was going to be a little bit of difference. And it comes right at you on the first hole. You know, instead of taking a hybrid and sneaking it down the fairway and hitting a nine iron or eight iron in there, all of a sudden you re thinking about hitting a driver or a three wood. And it was; it was a big difference. But, you know,
the big thing was not not really being used to have a big lead like that, not knowing exactly how to approach it or how to handle it. You know, I found out that you pretty much just need to play well regardless anytime anywhere. There s no on this golf course especially there s no sidestepping any swings out there, you know, because the pin placements are so tough. But unfortunately, I started off with a real weak effort with the putter, missed about a 2 1/2-footer on number 1 and came back and, you know, missed probably missed a 5-footer or maybe 6 feet on number 3, just a weak stroke, and in the meantime, you know, hit some hit some good shots in there. Probably had it about 15, 18 feet on on 5. I had a good opportunity, maybe maybe 7 or 8 feet on 4, and missed it. On 6 I had it about 4 feet and missed it. So, you know, I was very, very kind of balky with the putter early and then stepped up and hit a great drive on 7, had a had a four iron hit a fire iron to the back fringe and chipped it up about 6 feet and made that for a birdie. And that kind of settled me down a little bit. I hit an eight iron on 8 to about 12 feet, made that. So that s kind of been the key to my round or key to the tournament, was the stretch starting on maybe maybe 6 through 9 there. It seems like every day I made at least two birdies on those three holes so three or four holes so and then kind of went on the backside. Really the big biggest disappointment of the day, you know, I starting off putting poorly, but I knew I was hitting it well. I knew I was going to have some birdie opportunities. I knew I was hitting it pretty close and had the ability to hit it pretty close on some holes coming in. And really the big disappointment of the day was stepping up and, you know, after missing a couple couple putts there on 9 and 10, is stepping up on 12. And I knew I had it teed up on the tee in the wrong spot, and I just I don t
know what I was thinking. I waded through the shot, and I went ahead and hit it. I thought, you know, I need to move this over to the left side of the tee because the wind was in and out of the right, and I didn t do it. I kept it in the middle of the tee box and and it was on a little knoll and, you know, I just took it back dead inside, just made a horrible swing on that. But it s really the only real bad swing I made all day. And, you know, after coming back and playing a good hole on 13, I seemed to finish pretty strong. Do I go on? MODERATOR: Yeah. Sort of take us down the stretch there. RUSS COCHRAN: Okay. On the stretch there, you know, I made a good I hit a to be honest with you, on I hit it in the left rough on 13, one of the hardest holes to play to hit that fairway that I know and hit it in the left rough and then hit a flying eight iron about to about 20 feet. It was a really good shot. The 15 th hole I made a great two-putt from probably 45 feet, and then on to let s see, that s on 14 I made a good two-putt from the same thing, about 35 feet. Fifteen, a good two-putt. Sixteen was kind of a you know, I knew Pernice was going to make a couple birdies. I knew he was up there. It looked like John Cook was going to birdie every hole coming in. Ted Schulz was making some birdies. But, you know, they were having a little bit of trouble getting John was having a little bit of trouble getting some putts to fall. But on 16 I stepped up, and I hit a nice drive right down the middle. And I had 121 yards and hit a hit an easy pitching wedge to about 8 feet maybe, 7 or 8 feet, and snuck that one in the right side. And, you know, that was a big birdie for me. I think at the time it kept me at two shots. And then the same thing on 17, stepped up and hit an awful good drive on 17 and just had had a five iron into that par 5. So I think that was that was also a big key. You know, the way I played probably
the stretches I had from from 6 to 9 and from 16, 17, and 18 were were good stretches for me this week. MODERATOR: What how long was your putt at 17 for eagle? RUSS COCHRAN: Seventeen I had about probably 22 feet up the hill over the crest and just left it maybe a couple inches outside the hole on the left. I hit a I hit a really good putt. You know, it had an outside chance to go in. MODERATOR: At any point there did you realize Pernice had made eagle? RUSS COCHRAN: You know, I didn t know where he picked up the other I didn t know if he birdied 16 and 17 and they didn t post it or whether he whether he eagled 17. MODERATOR: Yeah. RUSS COCHRAN: But, you know, after the funny thing about this golf course is, is, you know, you you have to play every shot that s in front of you, probably except for 17. If you know you hit a good drive on 17, you should make birdie. So I think it was key, you know, to to hit a good drive there. I heard the roar. I didn t know who hit it close. I figured that, you know, it was Tom. He closes very well. He closed well here last year. And then to hit that good drive and hit a five iron right in the middle of the green was was a good, strong play from me. MODERATOR: And then talk talk about the last hole. I mean, it looked locked up, but RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah. MODERATOR: -- then all of a sudden you end up with a sort of an awkward shot in the bunker; right? RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah, the thing on 18 is, we my son and I were talking. I didn t know whether to hit a driver over the
trees and take it take it try to take it deep to the right or or hit a three wood. And I kind of I quit on a driver a little bit. I tried to hit it high, and I missed missed it left. You know, at that point we were we were aware that it was a two-shot deal. I didn t want to do anything crazy. And and you know what they say when you try not to do something crazy, that s probably what s going to happen. So I missed it left. I ve been driving it great there all week. I missed it left in the bunker up against the lip. I felt like I made a good decision there. I had an eight iron. I could have I could have got a clean hit on an eight iron and got in the middle of that green no problem. But given the fact you had two shots and that that lip, you know, if any kind of mishit or, you know, hit a little heavy at all, you know, there s a there s an outside chance that it buries in one of those green side bunkers, then, you know, then that s probably the the only way you can really really mess up. So I chose to take a 54 out of the bunker, got it up there about 30 yards, had maybe maybe 110 in for my last shot and and, you know, was a good number for the for the for the sand wedge and to hit in there close. MODERATOR: Okay. Ron, questions? Q. Two wins in a row after a while without winning. Have you exceeded your expectations or, you know, what s it feel like right now? RUSS COCHRAN: Well, today, you know, I felt like I learned more than than in Korea, South Korea. But because this this is really as far as I m concerned, this is the most difficult way to play golf, you know you know, wanting to go for the pin but not sure if you should go for the pin. I think if you have a very, very, very solid putter, I think that the day would have been set up great because of him hitting it well starting off with a I think it put it does put pressure on you. You know, you ve got to make a lot of 3-, 4-, 5-footers for par, especially on on these greens.
And I think that was you know, that was that was the hard part for me. But, to be honest with you, I when you don t win for that long, you know, it s not that you ve it s not that I was a great winner in the past anyway, you know. So I m still learning how to win right now, and hopefully I can use this and go on. And I think it s a great, kind of, testament to the level of my game right now, but I still have a lot of work to do on closing these golf tournaments out and playing better down the stretch. MODERATOR: You picked up 315 Charles Schwab Cup points, and I think you moved, if not into fifth, very close to fifth. You ve still got a lot of golf to be played, and you ve got a shot at moving up in that competition as well. RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah. That s you know, that those are the some of the good things that happen to you when you you know, you have a good stretch of golf and you play well. You know, my concern is is shoring up some of the little issues I have in my in my game and trying to get better and trying to stay focused and, you know, trying to stay you know, my energy level good enough to keep contending for tournaments. I I think that s the one thing you really do, you you learn and you crave after you get away from golf a little bit is, you know, just to get in that competition and and see how you do and, you know, knowing that if you if you make a good swing and you and, you know, you you play as hard as you can, there s a lot of satisfaction in that. And then when you end up winning on top of it, it really makes it feel great Q. Hey, Russ, you played well here last year. What is it about the course, or just tell me in general your thoughts of the course. RUSS COCHRAN: Well, it s a it s a good golf course. I like the fact that you re you re you re always trying to get
the ball in a certain spot on these greens. They re very demanding pin placements out here. Even on the on the front side, you know, they re on tiers, and everything is kind of sectioned off on these greens. You don t really want to get on the wrong side of a hump or, you know, you re not going to make many birdies that way. So you ve got to you know, you ve got to get the ball in position off the tee, and you ve got to take it at the hole. And, you know, I think for some reason I ve done that probably, you know, pretty well on this tournament versus a lot of the other ones. But but it s a it s a good golf course. It plays it plays differently, it seems like, from day to day, depending on the pins and stuff and and just the little targets and the wind and that. And it s you know, it s a very it s a big challenge. And, you know, when you play, you don t it s not just a it s a, you know, fight to the finish that you re going to shoot 20 under par. I kind of like those tournaments better. Q. What are your thoughts on the tournament hospitality and the hospitality of the fans here and in comparison to your other experiences? RUSS COCHRAN: Well, you know, I mentioned earlier, Dr. Goodnight is a you know, he s he s a legend among the golfers. Now, I will say this, he didn t do me any favors as far as trying to lose any weight this week. You know, we hit that buffet pretty hard and pretty often, too, so but, you know, all the guys, they start talking about about the tournaments. And it s really probably not fair to the rest of the tournaments because when when, you know, they put out a lunch spread or something, you know, it always comes back to here. Oh, yeah, they ought to do it a little bit more like SAS, you know. But, you know, it s hey, it s a great spot. Everything s right here. And I ll tell you the other thing that s kind of cool too. You can tell that that the members and the people in the
community, they they tend to kind of support and and to have a little stronger feeling about the golf course than they do, you know, just at at another another venue that they re not that maybe don t have an opportunity to play or whatever. MODERATOR: Eric. Q. Can you talk a little bit more about the weather today, the wind conditions, and how it affected the play? RUSS COCHRAN: Well, I can t tell you what it what it feels like. Just right off the bat to step on the first tee, you know, you ve got water sneaking in on your right-hand side. Now, the the fairway s fairly fast, but so, you know, you want to take that hybrid and just take it down the fairway. Today, you know, wasn t part of that. I saw Nick Price and Pernice and those guys hit drivers. So your mindset immediately, instead of kind of cozying that driver down the fairway, now all of a sudden you re looking at hitting that driver or three wood. But, you know, that that tells you it s a whole different day right there. Now, you as you work into the golf course, you work into 2, 5, you know, those those holes, you re working back into the wind. So those holes are up on crowns, and and they re to the back of the green. So now instead of hitting let s just take 5, for instance. I was hitting a nine iron in there. I hit a six iron as hard as I could hit to a back tier that crowns both ways. So, you know, you re you re the expertise on those shots are not going to be there unless you hit a really good shot. So I think that s why you didn t see guys make a strong move. I think if it would have played like it did yesterday, you know, having guys play the same track or pretty much the same feel of the golf course from tee to green that you would have seen guys go low right off the bat. But I don t think it lended itself this
this wind and these conditions do not lend itself to people getting off to super fast starts. I don t know of anyone that I mean, I wasn t hawking the board or anything, but I don t know of anyone that got off to a real fast start. Did MODERATOR: No. RUSS COCHRAN: Nobody really did? MODERATOR: There wasn t, no. RUSS COCHRAN: Yeah. And I think that s I think that s the indication that the golf course you know, that the front side s tough and that the golf s the golf course under those conditions were were very tough, you know. Then you turn the corner at 6; 6, 7, and 8, and now you have you know, we stepped up on on 6, and we played it down wind, and then we stepped up on no, we played into the wind off the tee and down wind on our second shot. The hole goes the same way so, you know, we re we were I mean, that was a leap of faith just to hit your your iron shot in there. So, you know, you got you got had a lot of things happening early. We thought the storm was going to blow up or something. We weren t sure what was going on. MODERATOR: Okay. We got anything else for Russ? Russ, congratulations again. Good luck in Hickory next week. RUSS COCHRAN: Thank you.