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Kokrak

By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

The forecast for the New Orleans area is in the mid-80s this week, when the Zurich Classic is held at TPC Louisiana.

After missing the cut in his last five consecutive tournaments, PGA Tour rookie Jason Kokrak is hoping his game heats up, too.

“I haven’t put everything all together yet,” the Warren resident said of his predicament that has dropped him from 79th on the PGA Tour FedExCup standings list as of March 4 to 137th through April 22.

In that period, his points (131) and earnings ($217,528) have stalled.

“At the beginning of the year I was hitting the ball good and not putting great, but, the last couple weeks, I kind of made the transition,” Kokrak said of gradually achieving better balance.

About the same time, however, physical pain paid an unwanted visit.

“I must have had a pinched nerve in my shoulder at Heritage and hit the ball OK, but just didn’t putt and chip well and got myself in a bad position,” Kokrak said of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C., April 12-15. “I didn’t take advantage of the opportunities I set in front of myself.

“Then, the next week at Valero [Texas Open in San Antonio], I hit the golf ball bad, but started putting better. So, once I’m able to get that happy medium of hitting it pretty good and putting decent, we’ll, hopefully, start playing better. But you can’t make all the par putts every week. It’s a matter of putting it all together.”

Even without concrete progress following a caddy change, Kokrak remains patient.

“I’m not getting too frustrated, but the change of caddies was probably not a bad move. The caddy’s working out good. He’s a good guy and I get along with him well and we work well together,” Kokrak said of Aaron Alpern.

“When I switched caddies I wasn’t playing that great and I’m just trying to figure some stuff out right now. I’m not hitting the ball great, but it — the game of golf — is a work in progress.”

Kokrak used Alpern in his last seven Nationwide Tour events to finish off 2011.

Kokrak, who is the PGA Tour’s fifth-best driving distance player with 304.7 yards, was asked to grade himself through the first third of the season.

“I’m not unhappy the way I started the season, although I got a little frustrated the last few events by missing the cut,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad, but right around average. I put myself in position to play many more events, so we’ll see how the rest of the season goes.

“The PGA Tour players normally make most of their money in between a three- and five-week span, so, when I get hot, that’s where I’m going to make all my money. Hopefully, it’s coming up soon, but you never know.”

Rather than dwell on the stagnation, the Warren JFK graduate may be primed to pull his first sub-70s score since a 68 in the second round of the Honda Classic, March 1-4.

If the temperatures in New Orleans this week reach 86, Kokrak wouldn’t mind heating it up on the course with a 68 or so.