Cook Is Above the Crowd in Playoffs : Golf: He has won twice in overtime in five-man fields, including last year’s Bob Hope tournament.

LA QUINTA —  John Cook loves a crowd, especially on Sunday afternoon.

He has won two five-man playoffs in golf, unusual because there have only been six such playoffs since the PGA Tour began keeping track.

Cook’s first tour victory came in the 1981 Bing Crosby tournament at Pebble Beach, when he defeated Hale Irwin, Bobby Clampett, Ben Crenshaw and Barney Thompson in a playoff.

Last year, he won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in a playoff over Mark O’Meara, Tom Kite, Rick Fehr and Gene Sauers.

So if the Hope tournament that begins today on four courses--the Palmer course at PGA West, Indian Wells, Bermuda Dunes and Tamarisk Country Club--ends in a multiple playoff, Cook wouldn’t be uncomfortable if he’s involved.

Cook, 35, seems on the verge of reaching another level in the game.

He gained prominence last year as runner-up to Nick Faldo in a stirring finish at the British Open. He also tied for second in the PGA Championship, won three tour events and was third in official money earnings with $1,165,606. He had seven top-five finishes and was one shot from the top 10 in the U.S. Open.

His victory in the Hope tournament last year was accomplished in spectacular fashion. He made three birdies and an eagle on the playoff holes.

On the third playoff hole, he chipped in from 25 feet for a birdie. On the next hole he chipped in from 75 feet for an eagle to win.

“You don’t make one of those a year,” Cook said.

Cook is literally at home on the desert courses. He has a home on the ninth fairway of the old course at Mission Hills Country Club.

As rewarding as 1992 was, it was tinged with the disappointment of not having won his first major tournament, the British Open, when it seemed that victory was imminent at Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland.

When he made a birdie at the 16th hole, Cook had a two-shot lead over Faldo, who had yet to finish the 15th. Faldo got a birdie at 15, but Cook had a long eagle putt on the 17th hole that barely missed.

“I had about three feet left for a birdie,” Cook recalled. “It wasn’t a tap-in, but a putt I should have made.”

He didn’t. So what appeared to be a cinch birdie turned out to be a par.

Faldo caught Cook by making a birdie on the 17th hole and, after Cook bogeyed the 18th, Faldo parred it to win his third British Open title.

“Obviously I was disappointed, but I’ve said many times, golf is not my life,” Cook said. “If golf was the only thing I had going for me, I would have been devastated. I learned a lot of things from it, and I tried to remain positive about it. It wasn’t easy for a couple of days. But I finished third the next week in Boston.”

Asked what he learned from the British Open, Cook said: “You have to go with your first thought (on club selection). I second-guessed myself a couple of times, and it cost me both times. The next time I got in position at Las Vegas to win I went with my first thought and won.”

Cook and his wife, Jan, have three children: Kristin, 11; Courtney, 8, and Jason 7. He tries to stay at home as often as possible, despite the demands of the tour.

“I make my schedule so I don’t play more than two tournaments in a row, unless it’s near home,” Cook said.

Cook went to Miraleste High School in the Palos Verdes area, where he was a safety in football and a guard in basketball. He has been playing golf since he was 7.

“If I had more time to dedicate to those other sports I would have been better than I was, but I knew deep down inside that golf was where I was going to go,” Cook said.

As for hobbies, Cook said he’s a sports nut.

“I go out and shoot some baskets, play some tennis, spend time with my kids. I keep myself pretty busy,” he said.

Reflecting on his career, and his loss to Faldo, Cook said:

“He’s on that level the rest of us aren’t at yet. Freddie (Couples) is close. Faldo is really unflappable in tough situations. I think it’s because he goes at each week the same, so when he gets in (a pressure) position in the majors, he has already (faced it). His preparation and mind-set are the same. He has all kinds of experience.”

Asked if his next goal is to win a major tournament, Cook said:

“I would like to win anywhere. I want to win as badly at home playing with my friends as I do at the Masters, or whatever. I have to give 150% every week. That’s the way I was taught.”

Cook said he has learned from his father, Jim, and Ken Venturi, a former U.S. Open champion and now a golf analyst on television.

“He (Venturi) has been my teacher since I was a teen-ager,” Cook said. “He says if you’re going to play, you play hard, or you don’t play.”