John Cook playing debut of Galleri Classic

John Cook is a full-time golf announcer and part-time professional golfer these days, but the prospect of playing in the new Galleri Classic in Rancho Mirage was too good for Cook to pass up.

“It’s going to be quite a week. I’m really excited about it obviously,” said Cook, who spent the 1970s growing up at Mission Hills Country Club, the site of the Galleri Classic.

Cook continued to play the Dinah Shore Tournament Course in the 1980s and the 1990s during a pro career that produced 11 events on the PGA Tour. But in the last two decades, Cook has rarely seen his old home course.

“I’ve been back since we had moved away to watch Jason (his son) play a couple of AJGA events, but I have not been back to play since, well, 1999 I think was the last time I played it,” Cook said.

The Galleri Classic will offer a full circle closure for Cook, now 65 and spending most of his time working for Golf Channel. In fact, the new PGA Tour Champions event will likely end Cook’s professional career.

“I chose the Hoag (Classic) at Newport Beach and I chose Mission Hills,” Cook said. “These will probably be the last two I play, quite honestly. I don’t see myself older than 65 years old trying to come out and compete. What better places to call it a career than Newport and Mission Hills.”

Cook has already made history in the desert, winning the 1992 and the 1997 Bob Hope Classics, the tournament now known as The American Express. But even as Cook transitioned to the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions, winning another 10 tournaments along the way, he hoped he would get a chance to play in the Coachella Valley again with a senior event.

“Once they announced the (LPGA Tour) was leaving, I thought it was a perfect fit,” Cook said. “I had nothing to do with it, although I had mentioned to Miller Brady (president of the PGA Tour Champions division) something about it and he said, oh, it’s already in the pipeline. Alright, okay, I thought it was a perfect fit.”

Part of the reason the PGA Tour Seniors seems like a strong fit for the Coachella Valley is players like Cook who have long histories in the desert because of The American Express. Cook’s personal history includes a playoff loss in the 1986 event to Donnie Hammond and then two of the most dramatic victories in tournament history.

In 1992, Cook won a five-man playoff at Bermuda Dunes, making birdies on the first three holes with a chip-in and…