GOLF:

Though John Cook now has a house in Corona del Mar, he may want to think of at least having a summer home in San Antonio, Texas.

Cook has won twice on the Champions Tour and both times have been at the AT&T; Championship in the lone star state. He captured the AT&T; title Sunday with a 16-under 197 at Oak Hills Country Club.

The 2007 AT&T; was his second tournament as a member of the Champions Tour and his enthusiasm for playing on the senior circuit showed. He won the tournament with a score of 15-under, beating out fellow Southern California resident, Mark O’Meara by two strokes.

It was a sign, many thought, of big things to come for Cook. He was expected to be one of the dominant players on the tour, but it took him 25 more tournaments to be victorious again.

That doesn’t mean he slumped in his sophomore season. Cook had 14 other top-10 finishes in addition to Sunday’s victory. So in 25 events, he was in the top 10 more than half the time. Of those 14 finishes, eight of them were tied for fifth or better.

So Cook was in contention several times throughout the year and his best chance to win before the AT&T; was in the Senior British Open in July.

That is the tournament that will bother the amiable 51-year-old for most of the offseason.

Cook made four birdies on the front nine in the final round of the tournament at Royal Troon and made the turn with a three-shot lead. That lead, though, quickly evaporated, but he still found himself a stroke up with one hole to play. His tee shot went into the right rough and saw his third shot come up well short of the green. He decided to putt, but left it 15 feet short and settled for a bogey. He lost in the sudden death playoff to Bruce Vaughan.

“You have to step up and hit golf shots and unfortunately I hit a couple poor tee shots,” Cook said after the tournament. “Not poor, just off-line and the one on 11 cost me obviously and I hit one bad iron shot, No. 12, and that cost me.”

If it bothered Cook, he didn’t show it. He came back the following week to play another major – The U.S. Senior Open – and finished fifth.

“When you have championships within your grasp, and they kind of slip through, it hurts a little bit,” Cook said. “You try to figure out what the heck happened, and so the next time you’re better prepared for it.”

Last Sunday, Cook showed why he will be threatening to win many more tournaments on the Champions Tour. He played the three-round event in 16-under and like his neighbor, Tiger Woods, showed he can play when not at his physical best.

Cook was suffering from a bit of a stomach ailment and felt nauseous for most of his final round, but still managed to shoot a six-under 65 and win by three strokes.

“It was a battle,” Cook told the media at the event. “I didn’t feel good right from the get-go. I hit enough quality shots. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper when you don’t have your best stuff or don’t feel very good.”

One more regular season event still remains for Cook, the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. It is the Champions Tour’s season-ending championship and Cook can be counted as one of the favorites.

He is currently fourth on the money list with $1,66 million and $331,035 separates him from money leader Bernhard Langer, who won the Toshiba Classic at Newport Beach Country Club in March.

If Cook wins the last event of the year he could take over the money title, but if he doesn’t, it won’t be the last time Cook is near the top of a leaderboard.

He should be one of the dominate golfers on the Champions Tour for many years.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.