Q. 8-under is great, any time you go out and play a round of golf like that. Your thoughts on how well you played today.
AUSTIN COOK: Oh, man, I played pretty much exactly like I wanted. I hit the ball well, putting finally came together. I mean, this has been a long, long time coming. Scorecards in past tournaments probably don't show that this was possible, but each week we have been getting better for the last year each week and finally everything came together.
Q. The round highlighted by the eagle at 15. Just take us through the shot and what do you think when your ball lands inside six feet?
AUSTIN COOK: Well, it's an elevated green so I couldn't quite see where it finished. But I hit the ball and it was just a straight line at the middle of the green. And I knew if it landed any kind of front half then it would roll back there and have a good chance to stay on the green. To walk up there and see it be about three feet was really nice.
Q. You got a few par-4s like that out there this week, what's your game plan now going through, when you get to these par-4s, how aggressive can you be?
AUSTIN COOK: For me it kind of depends I guess on the length of them. That one's about the only one that I can send it.
Number 7 is one that a lot of guys will send it up there, but it puts me right in the middle of the bunkers, not in a good spot, I would rather take a wedge. For me I feel like I have a really strong wedge game. Once again, stats may not show it, but I feel like I do. So I like to put myself in those opportunities, just to give myself good scoring chances.
Q. Even through 4, what clicked to turn it into a special opening round?
AUSTIN COOK: Some of the putts started to fall. Really the putt on 3 probably got me going. I hit my second shot short of the bunker and it rolled back down in all the sand and stuff down there. Hit a pretty good shot to about 30, 35 feet and made that putt for par. And then it just, the stroke felt good. I could see the lines really well and once again that's been a long time coming, it was nice to see all the hard work come together.
Q. What was the hard work specifically in your game that finally yielded a day like today?
AUSTIN COOK: We have been, so the last year and a half I've been fighting a couple tendencies in my swing. We finally got those kind of out and we figured out some stuff with the putting and with the putting stroke I was always a little poppy and now we're trying to take it nice and smooth.
Last week I used the broomstick and honestly I think I give credit to that because that taught me to roll the ball again instead of just hitting the ball. I was able to put that into the conventional putter and things just worked out today.
Q. Given the recent results does this give you a validation of everything that you've worked on, that there's light at the end of the tunnel and you're turning the corner?
AUSTIN COOK: Absolutely. Yeah, last couple years finishing outside the top 125, luckily with the win in 2017 still being able to have status out here, so thankful for the opportunity this year that they extended it with the coronavirus and just kind of look to make the most of the opportunity. I know I can play well and today was really, really good for me mentally, just to be able to see a low number out there again.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports