PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 22, 2021

Ben Cook

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island

Quick Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2021 PGA Championship here at the ocean course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

We are joined by Ben Cook, who posted a really impressive 3-under par 69 today. He is currently 2-over par for the championship. Just terrific play all around as I alluded to. Tell me what you're feeling out there. Maybe tell us a little bit about making the cut last night and then your play into today.

BEN COOK: Yeah, I played really solid for the first 12 holes. I was even par through 12 -- through 12 overall, and then 13 has been my nemesis. I doubled it the first two rounds with just sloppy play but just kind of limped in, made a couple of bogeys. But those last five holes last night were so hard into the wind. I didn't have less than 4-iron into any green, so it's like to hit it is great.

And then making par on the last two holes was amazing. Super thrilled, obviously. Even hole 18 I had a birdie putt and I'm like, okay, if I make, it make sure, two-putt, maybe with how hard it was playing, maybe I might be safe. Rolled it like eight feet by standing there like, here we go, and to knock that one in to be here is great.

Yeah, just happy to be here.

Q. Where were you when you saw the cut?

BEN COOK: I was out here hanging out on the patio with my wife looking at the leaderboard.

Q. Was 17 the highlight?

BEN COOK: Today yeah, for sure. Making a birdie on 17 with that many people there is amazing. The cheers, it's crazy, such a cool feeling. You can see why the guys love the fans being out.

Q. What did you hit?

BEN COOK: I hit 5-iron.

Q. Webb mentioned playing with you that "this guy should win a tournament every time he goes out there; we think he's the type of player that could be on TOUR." Hearing that type of phrase from someone like Webb Simpson, what does that mean to you?

BEN COOK: Thank you, Webb. That's super kind. And that is the end goal for me. I'm still trying to play. I have my American PGA TOUR status, so I'm like 29th on the Money List there, so hopefully with another couple good finishes, I'll move on to the Korn Ferry for the fall.

It just proves that the work I put into this week and the winter paid off and it's fun to see where it's at.

Q. You went shot-for-shot with him. What does that do for your confidence?

BEN COOK: In my head, I was just like maybe tie him and we can get paired again tomorrow.

It was cool because he rolls is so good. Every putt he hits it looks like it's going to be in. So I'm just trying to take that into account. I mean, he plays so smart even in his par on 10, he didn't try to muscle it up and get close to the green. He laid up to my 100-yard shot and wedged it in to four feet and easy four. It's just learning that type of stuff is nice just to kind of see the course management of how he plays and how he talks to his caddie and how he thinks about shots is really cool.

Q. When you arrived here, there was some screaming in the background. They were actually screaming for you, all your family and friends. What's it like having them here?

BEN COOK: It's been a blast, really. I'm so thankful and blessed to have that many people supporting me for sure. We probably have 20-plus people that are from my hometown here or close friends and family. And it's just fun to have that.

Q. Who are these people?

BEN COOK: So some of them, we had a big camping group that we used to go camping every summer, so a lot of them are my parents friends from their high school so they have been close forever and we got to know their kids and we all just probably had 20 -- 15 families that would all camp for a week every summer and got really close. A lot of them are here today.

Q. You seem to really be enjoying the round today. Obviously you played well, it's easier to enjoy when you're playing well, but has that been a focus of yours this week is staying positive and enjoying the process?

BEN COOK: Yeah, especially the first two days, it was like, okay, don't get too high or too low one under. Especially those last five holes when you're kind of like, you could go either way of making the cut; don't get too down on yourself because you have holes to finish, and if you make strong pars on the last two, you still make the cut, which I did. I was very happy with myself for doing that and not getting too down and frustrated and I feel like I've done a really good job at that this week.

Q. And today was joyous?

BEN COOK: Yeah, because there's no surviving for your life it make the cut anymore and there's no pressure. I felt like my swing was way more freed up in that aspect. I could go at some pins I might not have the first two days and just try to make some extra birdies and climb the leaderboard.

Q. Your conversations with Webb today, did you go in thinking you would pick his brain a bit or did you just take a temperature check of the day and the conversation flowed naturally?

BEN COOK: Yeah, it flowed very naturally. He's so easy to get along with and he's such a nice guy. I didn't try to harp on him too much. I asked him about Ryder Cup stuff and which one was his favorite and that type of thing and he was happy to talk about it -- who wouldn't be, Ryder Cup. Hopefully he gets in. I'm rooting for him to get a bid this year.

It was fun and easy to talk to him.

Q. Your hat and shirt have gotten some comments on social media, just wondering who makes them?

BEN COOK: Bad Birdie is the brand.

Q. Curious when you're preparing for a huge tournament like a PGA Championship, how do you go about doing that in the weeks leading up? What do your days look like?

BEN COOK: Yeah, especially with working it kind of makes it tricky. Even going back to college, I've gotten really good at time management because you have to with studies and golf team stuff.

So I credit my coach for kind of helping me with time management and being able to use the free time when I have it. Especially in Florida when it's light in December maybe till 5:00, 5:30. So when the sun is up, you're either at the course practicing or at work.

So you either get in before work or after work to kind of grind it out, and my club at John's Island in the winter has been so good to me making sure I can play all the events I want to and giving me practice time at the course. Yeah, very, very thankful for them.

Q. When you do have that time, you may only have an hour or two, you try to make it count?

BEN COOK: Yeah, for sure.

Q. Like what are you doing in order to make it count?

BEN COOK: It depends on what I need it work on at that point in time. A lot of putting and chipping, especially out here, it's paramount; if you're not making the putts, you're not going to score well.

So for me, the last month and a half has really been grinding on the putting green and with my coach, Brandon Roby, he's helped me a ton with that. That's a big focus, because I was hitting it really good coming into this week so I didn't think I needed to really harp on that too much. Just kind of making sure posture alignment, that type of stuff is good.

Q. Playing in the last two PGAs, I know it's a big deal to make the weekend. How big a deal is it to be the low one under guy?

BEN COOK: Yeah, that's always the goal. The guys that are here are here for a reason and they are really good. Brad's played amazing. So we'll see what the weekend holds. Got one more day to maybe catch him. We'll see. Hopefully I can be under par for the weekend and maybe make a run up the board, we'll see. If I can get under par total that will be a huge goal of mine or at least back to even would be sweet.

Q. Do you know Brad at all?

BEN COOK: I don't.

Q. Just curious, you and Brad are on the big stage, major championship. What's it like representing the 20,000 PGA members out there?

BEN COOK: Yeah, it's pretty cool. Like I've had -- like Jim Remy came up to me on hole 10, gave me a hug, he was like, "I'm so proud of you this week making the cut and representing the PGA." It's really cool to have the support, and there's so many of us that don't get heard from. So it's cool to be able to represent that.