Amateur career

The son of PGA Tour official Jim Cook, John Cook was born in Toledo, Ohio, but grew up in southern California. He attended Miraleste High School in Rancho Palos Verdes, graduating in 1976. In addition to golf, Cook was a promising, but undersized quarterback in football through his sophomore year. He was advised by his high school golf coach (who also coached football) to concentrate on golf, which would give him his best opportunity for a collegiate scholarship. The coach, Wilbur Lucas, later said it was the only time he suggested an athlete drop a sport. Cook was also coached by former PGA Tour star Ken Venturi.

Cook was offered a scholarship to the Ohio State University, and was personally advised to accept by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. He was a member of the Buckeyes' 1979 NCAA Championship team, which also included Joey Sindelar. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1978 at age 20, and nearly won it again in 1979, losing to Mark O'Meara in the finals. He also won the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1977 and 1979 and the California State Amateur in 1975. Cook also won the 1978 and 1979 Northeast Amateur held at Wannamoisett Country Club. Following the 1979 U.S. Amateur, Cook turned professional.

PGA Tour

Cook's first PGA Tour victory came in the 1981 storm-plagued Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. The event was shortened to 54 holes due to the weather conditions. Cook won the title on the third extra hole after a five-way sudden-death playoff that included Hale Irwin, Bobby Clampett, Ben Crenshaw, and Barney Thompson. Hale Irwin, the last of the four men that Cook eliminated in the playoff, was gracious in defeat. Irwin said: "John is a special young man. He deserved to win. He is one of the best new young players on the tour."

Cook's second PGA Tour win came in the 1983 Canadian Open. Cook won the tournament with a birdie putt on the sixth extra hole of a playoff against Johnny Miller, after both players parred the first five extra holes.

At the 1990 Las Vegas Invitational, Cook lost a playoff to Bob Tway in memorable fashion. On the first hole of sudden-death, Cook hit a sand wedge shot into the hole from 95 yards for an apparent birdie only to see the ball bounce out of the hole and eventually finish 15 feet from the hole, but off the green. Tway won the playoff with a routine par.

In 1992, Cook won three PGA Tour events, including a two-shot victory at the United Airlines Hawaiian Open after shooting two closing rounds of 65. He moved into the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time that year.

Cook has had seven top-10 finishes in major championships. The closest he came to winning a major during his career was when he led the 1992 Open Championship at Muirfield by two shots late in the final round. Cook missed a two-foot birdie putt on the 17th that would have given him a three-shot lead before he bogeyed the 18th and lost the Open by one stroke to Nick Faldo. The Englishman birdied two of the last four holes to overtake Cook. After the tournament Cook said: "I definitely let one slip away. I had a chance to win a major championship and I didn't."

During three consecutive years between 1996 to 1998, Cook had at least one PGA Tour win. His 1996 victory in the FedEx St. Jude Classic came after his opening three rounds of 64-62-63 for a 54-hole score of 189 broke the lowest total in PGA Tour history for the first three rounds.

The last of Cook's eleven PGA Tour wins came in the 2001 Reno-Tahoe Open at the age of 43.

He was inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1986.

Champions Tour

In October 2007, Cook became eligible to play on the Champions Tour. In his second start he won the AT&T Championship in San Antonio, 19 days after his 50th birthday. He finished two strokes ahead of Mark O'Meara and earned $240,000 for the victory, his first in six years. A year later, at the same event, he captured his second Champions Tour win, coming from behind with a 65 in the final round to win by three strokes over Keith Fergus.

Cook won his third career title on the Champions Tour in 2009 at the Administaff Small Business Classic by two strokes over Bob Tway and Jay Haas. Two weeks later, Cook picked up his fourth Champions Tour win at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship by five strokes over Russ Cochran. Cook set a scoring record at the tournament, shooting 22-under-par, with a 10-under-par 62 in the second round. Cook successfully defended this title in the 2010 Charles Schwab Cup Championship, winning by two strokes over Michael Allen.

Cook has had some near-misses in senior majors. At the 2008 Senior British Open at Royal Troon, he lost a playoff to Bruce Vaughan. At The Tradition in 2009, Cook bogeyed the 72nd hole and lost a playoff to Mike Reid. In 2011, Fred Couples defeated Cook on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff in the Senior Players Championship.

Personal life

Cook currently resides in Windermere, Florida, with his wife Jan. He has three children. His son, Jason, plays golf for Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Cook has helped design a golf course in Sunbury, Ohio, with help from his sister Cathy Cook, also a former standout player at nearby Ohio State.

Amateur wins (7)

• 1975 California State Amateur
• 1977 Sunnehanna Amateur
• 1978 U.S. Amateur, Northeast Amateur
• 1979 Sunnehanna Amateur, Northeast Amateur, Porter Cup

Professional wins (27)

PGA Tour wins (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Feb 2, 1981	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−7 (66-71-72=209)	Playoff	Bobby Clampett, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Barney Thompson
2	Jul 31, 1983	Canadian Open	−7 (68-71-70-68=277)	Playoff	Johnny Miller
3	Aug 16, 1987	The International	11 points (5-0-4-11)	2 points	Ken Green
4	Jan 19, 1992	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	−24 ( 65-73-63-69-66=336)	Playoff	Rick Fehr, Tom Kite, Mark O'Meara, Gene Sauers
5	Feb 9, 1992	United Airlines Hawaiian Open	−23 (67-68-65-65=265)	2 strokes	Paul Azinger
6	Oct 11, 1992	Las Vegas Invitational	−26 (68-66-62-70-68=334)	2 strokes	David Frost
7	Jun 23, 1996	FedEx St. Jude Classic	−26 (64-62-63-69=258)	7 strokes	John Adams
8	Jul 28, 1996	CVS Charity Classic	−16 (65-67-67-69=268)	3 strokes	Russ Cochran
9	Jan 19, 1997	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	−33 (66-69-67-62-63=327)	1 stroke	Mark Calcavecchia
10	May 17, 1998	GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic	−15 (66-68-66-65=265)	3 strokes	Fred Couples, Harrison Frazar, Hal Sutton
11	Aug 26, 2001	Reno-Tahoe Open	−17 (69-64-74-64=271)	1 stroke	Jerry Kelly

PGA Tour playoff record (3-3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1981	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	Bobby Clampett, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin, Barney Thompson	Won with par on third extra hole Clampett, Crenshaw, and Thompson eliminated with birdie on first hole
2	1983	Canadian Open	Johnny Miller	Won with birdie on sixth extra hole
3	1986	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	Donnie Hammond	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
4	1990	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	Tom Kite	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
5	1990	Las Vegas Invitational	Bob Tway	Lost to par on first extra hole
6	1992	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	Rick Fehr, Tom Kite, Mark O'Meara, Gene Sauers	Won with eagle on fourth extra hole Fehr eliminated with birdie on second hole Kite and O'Meara eliminated with birdie on first hole

Other wins (6)

• 1982 São Paulo Open
• 1983 World Cup (with Rex Caldwell)
• 1994 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Mark O'Meara)
• 1995 Mexican Open
• 2000 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Mark O'Meara)
• 2010 Gary Player Invitational (with Sergio García)

Champions Tour (10)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Oct 21, 2007	AT&T Championship	−15 (65-68-65=198)	2 strokes	Mark O'Meara
2	Oct 26, 2008	AT&T Championship	−16 (69-63-65=197)	3 strokes	Keith Fergus
3	Oct 18, 2009	Administaff Small Business Classic	−11 (65-72-68=205)	2 strokes	Jay Haas, Bob Tway
4	Nov 1, 2009	Charles Schwab Cup Championship	−22 (68-62-67-69=266)	5 strokes	Russ Cochran
5	Nov 8, 2010	Charles Schwab Cup Championship	−17 (64-69-67-67=267)	2 strokes	Michael Allen
6	Jan 23, 2011	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	−22 (66-64-64=194)	2 strokes	Tom Lehman
7	Apr 17, 2011	Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am	−9 (66-65-73=204)	Playoff	Jay Don Blake
8	Jul 3, 2011	Montreal Championship	−21 (63-66-66=195)	3 strokes	Chien Soon Lu
9	Jan 20, 2013	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	−17 (66-66-67=199)	Playoff	David Frost
10	Sep 28, 2014	Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach	−11 (67-68-69=204)	1 stroke	Tom Byrum

Champions Tour playoff record (2-6)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2008	Senior British Open	Bruce Vaughan	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
2	2009	JELD-WEN Tradition	Mike Reid	Lost to birdie on first extra hole
3	2010	Allianz Championship	Bernhard Langer	Lost to eagle on first extra hole
4	2010	Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with Joey Sindelar	Mark O'Meara & Nick Price	Lost to par on second extra hole
5	2011	Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am	Jay Don Blake	Won with birdie on first extra hole
6	2011	Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship	Fred Couples	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
7	2011	Songdo IBD Championship	Jay Don Blake, Mark O'Meara, Peter Senior	Blake won with birdie on fifth extra hole O'Meara and Senior eliminated with par on third hole
8	2013	Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai	David Frost	Won with birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

Tournament	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	39
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	T53
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	T21	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	T24	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	T53	T4	CUT	DNP	CUT	CUT	DNP	T36	T50	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	T19	T34	T20	CUT	DNP	T53	T28	T48	DNP

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	CUT	T54	T39	T46	CUT	DNP	CUT	43	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	T19	T13	T25	5	T62	T16	T36	CUT	T60
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	2	CUT	T55	T40	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	CUT	T2	T6	T4	CUT	T47	T23	9	CUT

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	CUT	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	T15	T40
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	2	15	7
U.S. Open	0	0	0	2	2	7	22	15
The Open Championship	0	1	0	1	1	1	7	3
PGA Championship	0	1	0	2	4	7	17	12
Totals	0	2	0	5	7	17	61	37

• Most consecutive cuts made - 6 (1992 Masters - 1993 U.S. Open)
• Longest streak of top-10s - 2 (1992 Open Championship - 1992 PGA)

Results in Champions Tour majors

Results are not be in chronological order prior to 2014.

Tournament	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
The Tradition	T14	2	T6	T25	T38	DNP	T6	T29
Senior PGA Championship	T16	T17	T36	T13	2	DNP	T21	T66
Senior Players Championship	T7	T5	65	2	T20	T36	T12	T47
U.S. Senior Open	5	T19	T3	CUT	T6	T35	T24	CUT
Senior British Open Championship	2	CUT	T11	11	T6	T61	T64	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy: 1978 (winners)

Professional

• World Cup: 1983 (winners)
• Ryder Cup: 1993 (winners)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]