John Cook beats all odds to win the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am
Despite tremendous odds, American Golfer John Cook claimed victory at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Cook has dedicated his victory to his caddie Tommy Anderson – a rare dedication in the golfing world. He seems to be on a winning streak with his recent
win at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship. However, the American has dedicated his victory to his caddie for the first time in his long golfing career.
Cook’s chances at winning the tournament were greatly reduced after his final-hole double bogey. Such a shot at a crucial and critical moment in the game can be devastating for a golfer, however, Cook claimed the shot could have happened to the best golfers
in the game and deems himself extremely lucky to pull out from such a shot, as he claims he had no intention of hitting anywhere near the water hazard.
Tommy Anderson, Cook claimed, calmed down his nerves and was responsible for Cook’s surge in confidence that led him to power through to victory. Cook’s redemption came as a result of a pep talk from Anderson that placed him in the right state of mind to
shoot the winning birdie.
The golfer's four year association with his caddie has built a strong relationship between the two which has come to benefit him greatly. The victory is all the more important for Cook because this is his first win at Florida after a large number of tries.
This was his seventh victory at the Champions Tour and the most stressful of them all since he came close to losing out to Jay Don Blake.
Cook snatched victory right from under Jay Don Blake’s nose, who has not claimed a professional victory since 1991. However, Blake is confident about his game and such a close brush with victory has heightened his will to practice and improve his game. Blake’s
heightened confidence might help him in recapturing his glory days of the early 1990’s.
Cook earned $255,000 for his victory and Blake earned $149,600, the greatest amount earned by him in recent years. At 53 years of age, Cook might divert from his excellent game by one unpredicted bad shot, but his game is stronger than ever and this recent
win has been tremendous for his confidence. Cook’s victory is also in part due to some devastating mistakes made by Russ Cochran that placed Cook in the lead.
Tommy Anderson stepped up beyond the role of a caddie and boosted Cook’s confidence enough to grant him a sure victory. Such examples of camaraderie between a golfer and his caddie are common in the golfing world, but rarely highlighted. Their four-year
relationship has seen Cook through 7 professional wins and more are to come in the future.
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