It’s not that often that a seasoned caddie gets mentioned in a player’s credits after a tournament win, but there’s no denying the value of a seasoned perspective from someone who has a vested interest in his player’s success. Especially coming down the stretch on Sunday, with his player in control of the tournament with only an hour or so of tournament golf remaining. It can be the difference between a boring walk-in-the-park victory, or an epic meltdown that is outright unexplainable. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars lie in the balance. But beyond the money earned is the prestige of being a winner, and all of the confidence that comes along with it.
But on Sunday night, with his confidence seriously shaken, I have to imagine that Russ Cochran didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.
That afternoon, Cochran came to the par5 14th at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am with a comfortable 2-shot cushion. His closest contender and fellow playing partner John Cook had a miserable opening 9 holes and was 1-over par, 2-shots back. The par5 14th at TPC Tampa Bay is long with plenty of trouble to avoid, particularly off the tee. But the trouble lurking doesn’t end there, as water and various bunkers make the second shot all the more important. Both Cook and Cochran hit solid tee shots that split the fairway, with Cochran 10 yards or so closer to the green. Cook would be first to play.
A lot of times while we watch a golf tournament on television, we forget all about the process involved for the players being covered. But I listened eagerly to Cook’s caddie, who took a hands-on approach discussing the objective for the 2nd shot his player was about to hit. He knew his player was laying up, much too far back to go at the green some 300 yards away. It’s worth noting that Cook isn’t one of the longer hitters on the Champions Tour, but is one of the most accurate. The only thing on their minds at that point was the target line, and the distance they wanted on their 3rd shot approach. Cook’s caddie handed him the 3iron, telling him, “This is the club. Hit only when you’re ready.” Of course – Cook hit a nice 2nd shot to the center of the fairway, leaving him a full wedge approach.
No sooner than Cook’s ball landed in the fairway, NBC’s on-course commentator Dottie Pepper noted that Cochran wasted little time fetching a club from his bag and was already in his pre-shot routine. That’s when Gary Koch commented on the “bold play” that Cochran seemed to have opted for, with a 3wood in his hands. Koch said, “I don’t understand this play. At this stage you put an iron in your player’s hand and you tell him to lay the ball up. I really don’t understand this….” To add even more risk to the shot, Cochran was aiming at the water that ran down the left side of the fairway, trying to work the ball back to the green over the water. He took a mighty rip, and watched emotionless as the ball refused to move offline from its certain watery death. Splash….
As Cochran was going through the process of determining where he needed to drop his ball, Koch also noted that there was very little talk going on between Cochran and his caddie for pretty much the entire hole. Cochran’s caddie happens to be his son, Ryan. Ryan was a standout amateur golfer who played college golf at the University of Florida (thank you Jackie!) several years ago, but beyond that has very little big-time experience in pro golf. For the most part – Ryan seems to be a pack mule more than anything else, but in all fairness – who wouldn’t want their son on the bag for what appears to be a blossoming second career!
Cochran takes his drop and still has 190 yards to the green for his 4th shot. Horrible lie, ball well below his feet. Cochran overcompensated for the side-hill lie and pulled his 4th shot short and right of the green. But things continue to get more interesting. As Cochran walks up the fairway with his head down, Cook senses a golden opportunity and fires his 3rd shot with wedge to 6 feet for birdie. Then, Dottie Pepper notes that Cochran can still get up and down to save a bogey, since he has a very good lie in the light rough. Then things just get downright whacky….
Cochran looks at what appears to be a very good lie, facing a delicate pitch shot over a bunker to a hole location some 25 feet away. It’s not an impossible shot to get close, but the odds are more in favor of needing to hole a 10 footer to save bogey. But Cochran doesn’t even consider looking at the hole location. He starts looking at the contours on the left side of the green, playing completely away from the hole. This prompts Gary Koch to ask Dottie Pepper, “Dottie, are you sure that the lie is okay? He’s pulled a hybrid from his bag and looks like he’s considering playing an overly conservative bump-n-run type shot away from the hole.” Dottie confirms what the viewers see – a ball sitting up cleanly in the light green-side rough. Koch responds, “Well, I don’t know why he’s taking such a conservative route, Dottie. Unless he’s afraid of hitting a pitch shot with his wedge, which could be the case. But he’s 10 for 10 this week with up-n-down saves, so this is quite interesting.” Cochran brushes the grass with a few practice strokes with the hybrid, and then haphazardly jabs the club into the back of the ball, watching it run across the back portion of the green and down into a runoff back behind the green. But the fun isn’t over.
Cochran is now faced with a pitch shot to the green some 5 feet above him. Now if he can pitch the ball within reason, he has an outside shot at saving a double bogey. He has plenty of green to work with, and while it’s not the easiest of shots to pull off, it would certainly be expected of him to leave himself that 5-10 foot range to make a putt. Given the enormous mess that he’s made the past 10 minutes, a double bogey suddenly doesn’t seem like a bad score. But Cochran once again refuses to pull a wedge from the bag, opting instead for the putter. This prompts yet another comment from Koch in the booth. “I really don’t understand what I’m seeing, Roger. The smart play at this point would be to take a wedge, land it on the green, let the slope funnel it down toward the hole and take what you get. But putting this ball from this far back, up that steep embankment just brings a lot of added things to account for.” Right on cue – Cochran putts the ball up the bank and watches the ball come to a complete stop a mere 8 feet onto the green. He then missed the 20 footer for double bogey, tapping in for a triple.
Cook drains his birdie for a 4-shot swing, and finds himself in the catbird seat to win his second tournament of the season. Cook would go on to post a double bogey himself on the final hole of the tournament, but would win in the playoff. Russ Cochran went from cashing a first-place check to finishing T3, all in the matter of 15 minutes. Would Cochran have avoided this disastrous meltdown had a seasoned caddie been on his bag Sunday? Who knows. But we do know this – it certainly couldn’t have hurt his chances.
There’s a lesson to be learned in all of this: when things are going along smoothly and you appear to be on the verge of shooting a great score or winning a match, take a moment before each shot to understand the situation. Clear your mind. Make wise decisions. Don’t get ahead of yourself and ruin what has every reason to be a joyous occasion. In other words – be your own best caddie.
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