John Cook Reflects on His Near Miss at the British Open

On the green at 17, did you think you needed to make an eagle?

I’m thinking, if this [30-foot] putt goes in, great. If it doesn’t, not a big thing. Just go up, tap it in and move on to 18. I hit a good first putt, just missed on the right edge. It went by a couple of feet. I went up and marked it. This was just a little two-footer that normally you pay attention. I didn’t. I took it for granted.

What does that mean?

I got up and didn’t think about exactly where I wanted to hit it. I hit it too hard. It went through the break and missed. There’s some pressure there. I didn’t really feel it, but when I think about it, I got out of my routine, and that’s part of not handling the pressure. Part of handling the pressure is you stay in that routine. The same walk, the same marking of your ball, the same putting it down. For some reason, I took it for granted that this was already given to me.

How did you deal with such a heartbreaking loss?

That night was not comfortable. I got back to the house we were renting with Mark. He came out and handed us [Cook and his caddie] a couple of beers. He didn’t really say anything. He was busted up.

Thirty years later, is the pain still there?

Quite honestly, it is. Everyone keeps reminding me: “You’ve had a wonderful career. You’ve won 20 plus times on both tours. You can be proud of yourself.” Yeah, I’m very proud of that. I’ve won a lot of golf tournaments.

But I’m disappointed I didn’t win a major. I thought I had the game to win any of the majors.

Who you picking for St. Andrews?

I think Rory’s [McIlroy] game is just right. You’ve got to keep it out of bunkers, and you’ve got to stay away from hitting that one [disastrous] shot. He has that one shot in him. He can’t afford to have that one shot. And I think Xander [Schauffele, who has won his last two starts]. Those would be my two.