Cochran can hang with the young guys, but enjoys the relaxed crowd

Russ Cochran’s spontaneous trip back in time last week to research the Hawaii golf elements opened his eyes to a new PGA Tour world. Today, in the opening round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, he’s back in his element.

Cochran, 54, turned pro 10 years before Sony Open in Hawaii champion Russell Henley was born. Cochran finished in a tie for 41st Sunday at Waialae Country Club. He was 17 shots back of Henley’s record-breaking 256 total, but he made the cut on a tour he has not played full-time in more than a decade.

The 2010 British Senior Open champion qualified on Monday in 40-mph Turtle Bay breezes and beat a bunch of guys in a field dominated by 20-somethings. Henley, a 23-year-old rookie making his debut as a tour member, was not the youngest on the leaderboard last week, only the most restless to achieve his dream.

Cochran watched in amazement.

"It’s much more intimate on the Champions Tour," he said last week, "but I’ve been super well-received. Honestly, the thing with me is, I look around at the young faces and the way they go about their business. They are much more deliberate and mechanical and focused and they get into their swing thoughts. We just kind of peg it up and try to hit shots on the Champions Tour."

At Hualalai, those shots better be exceptionally good. The seniors have made this stop the easiest on tour nine of the past 10 years. Two years ago, in his Mitsubishi debut, Cochran opened with a career-best 10-under-par 62.

After last week, he should be ready to go low again.

"I know, if nothing else, standing over these putts and getting the feel of walking the course and hitting shots and working it in the wind is a big deal," Cochran said at the Sony.

Cochran’s son Ryan was on his bag last week. He played for Florida and youngest son, Case, is now at Texas A&M. The strangest part for Cochran at Sony was seeing his opponents through a father’s eyes.

"The odd thing about this is two or three of the guys out here (at Sony) are guys my sons played with," Cochran said. "There are lot of guys out here I saw when they were playing junior golf. It’s really interesting, really fun to see the progress."

This week, Cochran will be back in his comfort zone. The 40 seniors at Hualalai got here by winning in the past two years, or winning a major in the past five. There are eight sponsor exemptions, names like Ben Crenshaw and Hale Irwin.

Cochran won once on the PGA Tour. It took him 19 years, but the left-hander’s next win came on the Champions Tour. Now he has collected three wins, and nearly $5 million.