John Cook fired a final round eight-under-par 64 for a
one-shot victory at the Reno-Tahoe Open.
"Trying to stay competitive in your mid-40s is tough," Cook said. "This past year
I've worked so hard because I'd been playing so badly."
Cook, 43, led midway through the tournament but stumbled to a 74 in the third
round and began the final day six shots behind Jerry Kelly, with three players
between him and the lead.
"For as good as I played the first two days and to hit it as bad as I did
Saturday, I was so angry at myself, I just thought, I don't want to end this
week on a bad note," Cook said.
"Even after playing badly last night, there were only four players ahead of me."
Two of those players were Bryce Molder, 22, who was making his pro debut on the
PGA Tour, and Charles Howell, 23, who is in his first year on the circuit.
Cook wasted no time climbing into contention with four birdies and an eagle on
the first six holes.
He parred the final four holes to finish at 17-under 271 and waited to see if
anyone could catch him.
No one could.
Kelly, a millionaire this year, carded a 1-under 71 and remained without a win
in 192 PGA Tour events thanks to a
triple-bogey 6 at the par-3 16th hole that included a missed two-footer for
double bogey.
"When I finished, at best I thought I would get into a play-off," Cook said. "When
I walked into the locker room I saw Jerry on 16 and it was difficult to watch.
"I have been there, too."
Molder and Howell found out how tough it is to win on the tour, even when most
of its best players are off at another event.
"Emotionally, this is where I want to be," Molder said. "I just didn't make any
putts where I wanted to."
"It's a stupid game we play; it just drives us crazy," Howell said.
The youngsters got some sympathy and advice from Cook. "It was a tough day," Cook
said. "If you don't get anything
done, you can't just decide to go into attack mode. Charlie and Bryce will both
win a lot of tournaments."
Molder shot a 71 that included four bogeys, including two in a row on the front
nine.
A closing birdie left him two shots shy at 15-under 273.
"I am not happy with being third," Molder said. "But there are more weeks ahead of
me and more chances to win.
"I was nervous but I did a pretty good job of handling it."
Howell also carded a 71 that included 13 pars. He bogeyed the 16th, killing any
chance he had of catching Cook, and finished at 14-under 274.
"My round was pretty pathetic," Howell said. "I had so many good chances. I hit
the ball great today but it didn't do anything."
It was Cook's 11th career win and first since the 1998 Byron Nelson Classic.
His first PGA Tour win came at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am in 1981 when
Molder was 2 years old.
When Kelly teed it up at No. 16, he had a one-shot lead.
By the time he took his ball out of the cup, he trailed by two which turned
out to be costly when he birdied the 18th.
"I was mad that I missed a two-footer on 16," Kelly said. "If I make that short
putt, then that birdie is to tie.
"So ultimately that was the worst shot."
Cook was making putts all day. He birdied two of the first three holes before
his eagle at the par-5 fourth, where he went driver-9-iron before chipping in
from 20 feet.
"I had only made three eagles all year and I made four in the last week three
in this event," Cook said. "You need to take advantage of the par-5s and I did
that this week."
Cook followed that with two more birdies before a three-putt bogey at the par-3
seventh. Beginning with the ninth hole, he birdied five of the next six, with
another bogey at No. 12.
"One of the things you learn after 22 years is to leave each hole behind you and
keep trying to hit the right golf shot under the right circumstances," Cook
said.
Justin Leonard shot a 66 and finished tied with Duffy Waldorf at 13-under 275,
one stroke better than Dan Forsman, JP Hayes and Tim Herron, all of whom carded
69s.
Defending champion Scott Verplank was part of the elite field at the NEC
Invitational.
Collated final scores from the Reno-Tahoe Open, played at Montreux Golf and Country Club, Reno, Nevada (US unless stated, par 72):
271 J Cook 69 64 74 64
272 J Kelly 66 68 67 71
273 B Molder 70 65 67 71
274 C Howell 68 66 69 71
275 J Leonard 71 69 69 66, D Waldorf 71 67 69 68
276 D Forsman 71 68 68 69, JP Hayes 68 68 71 69, T Herron 66 70 71 69
277 S Flesch 67 74 67 69, B Gay 69 69 69 70
278 E Fryatt (Gbr) 65 73 71 69, B Tway 68 69 72 69
279 M Brooks 73 67 73 66, C Pavin 69 72 71 67, C Riley 70 71 68 70
280 J Daly 71 71 69 69, J Riegger 69 70 69 72
281 D Berganio Jr 66 68 74 73, J Edwards 67 70 75 69, N Lancaster 71 68 72 70,
M O'Meara 66 72 73 70, B Watts 64 71 71 75
282 C Beckman 71 67 71 73, B Elder 72 69 67 69, B Geiberger 71 67 70 74, G
Hjertstedt (Swe) 71 67 72 72, S McCarron 70 70 73 69, J Van de Velde (Fra) 71
70 72 69
283 B Bryant 71 67 73 72, H Haas 76 66 68 73, T Isenhour 70 72 72 69, K Jones
72 70 71 70, I Leggatt 72 70 75 66, C Perks 71 70 74 68
284 J Carter 68 67 72 77, R Freeman 67 72 75 70, J Hart 71 71 72 70, J Kaye 71
66 71 74, G Kraft 71 71 73 69, M Muehr 72 70 75 67, C Stadler (Aus) 71 68 71
74, C Tidland 70 68 73 73
285 B Bates 68 69 73 75, G Chalmers (Aus) 72 70 72 71, L Janzen 70 65 75 75, B
Mayfair 70 69 74 72, A McLardy 72 70 71 72, J Sluman 68 73 69 75
286 R Black 68 73 74 71, L Porter 73 65 75 73, B Quigley 72 65 74 75, M Sposa
69 71 73 73, E Toledo (Mex) 73 68 76 69
287 D Hammond 72 69 75 71, JL Lewis 71 70 72 74, C Paulson 70 72 68 77
288 D Ellis 69 71 75 73, B Henninger 68 74 78 68, G Hnatiuk (Can) 70 72 75 71
289 S Allan (Aus) 67 69 79 74, W Austin 71 66 75 77
290 C Kanada 70 71 76 73, B Wilson 69 72 73 76
291 R Beem 74 68 77 72, J Ogilvie 73 69 71 78, D Pride 71 70 77 73
292 B Ferguson 70 72 79 71
293 B Schwarzrock 69 72 77 75
299 T Armour III 72 68 79 80
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