Austin Clark Cook (born March 13, 1991) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Background

Cook was born in

Little Rock, Arkansas ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

, attended the University of Arkansas, and is a native of

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the ...

Amateur career

Cook had a decorated college career at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He was a two-time Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and in his sophomore year earned all-America honors when he finished 10th individually at the 2011 NCAA Championship. In 2010 he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. He served as a mainstay in the Razorback lineup during his college career with 48 tournaments played, a 73.37 career stroke average and nine top-10 finishes. Cook was the runner-up at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional in 2013, earning him all-central region accolades.

Professional career

Cook turned pro in 2014. He finished T-130 in

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

Q-school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of th ...

, but never got to play a Web.com Tour event due to his finish in Q School and limited status. In the summer of 2014, he made it into the

FedEx St. Jude Classic The FedEx St. Jude Classic was a professional golf tournament held in Memphis, Tennessee as a regular event on the PGA Tour. The tournament was held annually from 1958 through 2018, and was played in June at TPC Southwind (since 1989). In 2019 ...

through

Monday qualifying A Monday qualifier is a stroke play golf tournament held on the Monday before a professional golf tournament that awards top finishers entry into the professional tournament. Those who enter the Monday qualifiers are those with no status on the tou ...

, finishing tied for 13th place, at 5-under-par. Cook has played on the Adams Pro Tour. His career earnings as of April 1, 2015 were over $100k. In April 2015, Cook made it into the

Shell Houston Open The Cadence Bank Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in November. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, t ...

through the Monday qualifier, finding himself in contention in short order. With a 4-under-par 68 on Thursday, Cook made a strong close on Friday, with four consecutive birdies to win a spot in the final group along with

Andrew Putnam Andrew David Putnam (born January 25, 1989) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. Early years Born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, Putnam graduated high school in 2007 from Life Christian Academy. His older brother Michael Putnam, ...

and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two P ...

. On Saturday of the tournament, ''Golfweek'' said Cook "did not fold under the pressure of playing alongside Phil Mickelson," and carded a 2-under 70 as he headed into Sunday's final round one off of

Jordan Spieth Jordan Alexander Spieth (born July 27, 1993) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour and former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He is a three-time major winner and the 2015 FedEx Cup champion. Spieth's first maj ...

's lead, tied for second place at 203 with first-round leader

Scott Piercy Scott Piercy (born November 6, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life Born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, Piercy played college golf at San Diego State and turned professional after graduation in 2001. C ...

and

Johnson Wagner Montford Johnson Wagner (born March 23, 1980) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early years and amateur career Wagner was born in Amarillo, Texas and grew up in upstate New York, where his father taught computer scienc ...

. On the final day, Cook finished at −10 and tied for 11th, one position short of automatic entry into the

Zurich Classic of New Orleans The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly play ...

, the next full-field PGA Tour event. His earnings for the tournament were $135,000. At the 2015

Barbasol Championship The Barbasol Championship is a professional golf tournament in Kentucky on the PGA Tour; it debuted in 2015 as an alternate event to The Open Championship in Britain in July. The first three editions of the tournament were played in Alabama at th ...

, Cook Monday qualified his way to a T6 finish. That gave him entry into the

RBC Canadian Open The Canadian Open (french: L'Omnium Canadien) is a professional golf tournament in Canada. It is co-organized by Golf Canada (formerly known as the Royal Canadian Golf Association) and the PGA Tour. It was first played in 1904, and has been hel ...

, where he finished T7. Cook earned enough non-member

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is a championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Announced in November 2005, it was first awarded in 2007. Rory McIlroy is the 2022 champion. Th ...

points to qualify for the 2015

Web.com Tour Finals The Korn Ferry Tour Finals is a series of three golf tournaments that serve as a means of earning PGA Tour membership for the following season ("Tour cards"). The series, which until 2019 consisted of four tournaments, replaced the PGA Tour Qualif ...

. He ended the Finals 51st among players who had not earned their cards through the regular season, one place short of full Web.com Tour status and avoiding Q School. Cook earned his PGA Tour card during the 2017 Web.com Tour season and earned his first PGA Tour win at the

RSM Classic The RSM Classic is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the autumn in Georgia. It debuted in October 2010 on St. Simons Island, Georgia St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) loca ...

in November 2017.

Professional wins (1)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Results in World Golf Championships

"T" = Tied

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Austin American male golfers Arkansas Razorbacks men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Arkansas Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas People from Jonesboro, Arkansas 1991 births Living people