THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 13, 1996 TAG: 9607130314
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 60 lines
Simon Cooke has done well acclimating to new surroundings since moving to the United States in 1989.
A year after making the move, he won the Virginia State Junior championship. As a freshman at the University of Virginia, he won his first collegiate event, the Kiawah Invitational.
So why should his first PGA Tour event intimidate him?
Cooke, who received a sponsor's exemption into the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, fired a 2-under-par 69 Friday to go with an opening 68 and finds himself just five shots off the lead heading into today's third round.
``I've had so much fun these last two days,'' said Cooke, who has retained enough of his Buckinghamshire, England, accent to still stop passers-by. ``It's been stressful and nervous, but I guess I'm keeping it under control.''
Cooke, playing in the next-to-last group of the day, finished in almost unplayable conditions - a 30-mile wind in his face and sideways rain.
At the 435-yard, par-4 18th, which plays over water, his drive barely cleared the lake, he laid up with a 4-iron, then hit a knockdown 6-iron from 107 yards away to within 10 feet of the cup. His par putt barely missed, leading to his only bogey of the day.
``I've actually played in worse conditions,'' said Cooke, who has played in the last four British Amateurs. ``But this is getting close.
``My group was talking about wanting to finish because we didn't want to have to come back out at 7:30 in the morning to do it.''
The 23-year-old Cooke moved to Richmond in 1989 when his father, who works for a company specializing in tobacco machinery, was transferred to the U.S. Since then, Cooke has been a model of excellent, closing out his collegiate career as the Atlantic Coast Conference's player of the year.
Although Cooke admits the PGA Tour is a ``completely different environment'' from what he's accustomed, Cooke's sports psychologist, U.Va. professor and renowned author Dr. Bob Rotella, told him to imagine a more familiar setting.
``He said to treat it like I was playing a round with a couple teammates from school,'' Cooke said.
SIDEHILL LIES: Curtis Strange's 77 was his worst round ever in this tournament, beating a third-round 76 in 1994. . . . Jay Delsing was disqualified Friday after leaning on his putter and bending it, then continuing to use the club to putt out. Once a club is altered in any manner other than the course of play, it can no longer be used in that round. . . . Dicky Pride had the shot of the day at the par-4 18th. After pushing his drive into the right rough, Pride holed a 3-wood for an eagle-2. . . . Lanny Wadkins, who won this event in 1990, eagled the seventh hole, then made a 12-footer to save par at the ninth hole, his final hole of the day, to finish at even par and make the cut. . . . Friday's biggest turnaround came from Steve Rintoul, who opened with a 7-over 78 and shot 7-under 64 Friday to make the cut. ILLUSTRATION: MIKE HEFFNER
The Virginian-Pilot
Simon Cooke celebrates his birdie chip on the 8th Friday. The
ex-U.Va. player is at 68-69-137. by CNB