Tag: Eric Cole

Eric Cole keeps making birdies, Davis Thompson trying to win in backyard and Ludvig Aberg in hunt among RSM Classic first-round takeaways

Here’s everything you need to know.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Laura Baugh waited outside the entrance to the men’s locker room at Sea Island Resort to hug and kiss her son, Eric Cole, on the cheek and congratulate him on a fast start Thursday at the RSM Classic. Baugh, who was the 1973 LPGA’s Rookie of the Year, smiled and said, “Good playing, honey.”

Fifty years after his mother won her award, Cole is one of the top contenders for Rookie of the Year honors on the PGA Tour. Of the chances of there being two award winners in the same family, he said, “I think it would be very cool. I don’t know if that’s ever happened before, so it’s something that would be really special and something that it would be a cool thing to share with her.”

Cole’s dream rookie season on the Tour is off to a good start for a happy ending. He made eight birdies during the rain-delayed opening round to shoot 6-under 66 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation Course as he seeks his first Tour title at the final of 54 events during the 2022-23 wraparound season.

2023 RSM Classic
Eric Cole waits on the 16th hole during the first round of the 2023 RSM Classic on the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Cole, whose father, Bobby, played on the Tour in the 1970s and won one time, didn’t make it to the Tour until this season at age 35. He even took a break from competitive golf for a while, teaching and caddying occasionally for friend Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer.

“When I was teaching I realized like if I don’t ever make it to the PGA Tour and have success, then my life is still going to be OK, it’s no big deal,” he said. “So it almost took a little pressure off me taking a step away and being like if I make it, great, but if I don’t, my life will still be OK.”

Last year, Cole graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour, where he earned $221,637, by finishing in the top 25 on the season-long points list. He has made up for lost time, earning nearly $5 million in his rookie campaign while recording 13 top-25 finishes. Cole nearly won in February at the Honda Classic, losing in a playoff, and has three top 4s in his last four starts.

Cole has been a birdie machine this season. He already has set a record for circles on his card in a single season, increasing his total to 534 on Thursday.

“I think I tend to play pretty aggressively, so I make a decent amount of birdies, and then I’m just trying to not make too many bogeys,” he explained.

In the first round, he limited the bogeys to two – at Nos. 4 and 17 – but finished with birdies on four of his final five holes to share the early lead with Cameron Young and Davis Thompson. [UPDATE: Austin Eckroat and Denny McCarthy shared the first-round lead 7-under 65s on Plantation Course when play was completed on Friday morning.] For Cole, his birdie on 15 was the highlight of the day after a loose drive at the par 4.

“Had to wedge it over the trees and hit it close to a back pin, so that was kind of a bonus birdie,” he said.

The start of the first round was delayed for more than an hour and a second delay cleared the course at 1:45 p.m. ET in the middle of the round. Play resumed at 4:18 p.m. ET and was called for the day at 5:17 p.m. ET due to darkness with only 65 players having completed their rounds.

Cole isn’t only hoping to pad his case to be Rookie of the Year. He entered the week No. 48 in the Official World Golf Ranking and the top 50 at the end of the year earn invites to the Masters. Cole’s mom lived in Augusta, Georgia, while she taught at a nearby course, but he has never been on property yet.

“I’ve driven past the front entrance, but that’s it,” he said. “It’s something that if I keep doing those little things right, then hopefully that will be the result.”

The first round is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. ET. Second round tee times have been pushed back from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. ET.

RSM Classic takes over role of ‘last chance saloon’ as final FedEx Cup Fall event

For the first time, the top 125 for 2024 will be finalized at the RSM Classic.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The view of St. Simons Sound from the driving range at Sea Island Resort is one of the most idyllic settings on the PGA Tour. Yet this week at the RSM Classic, tensions are high, jobs are on the line and not everyone will leave with a smile on their face.

“You don’t want to come in here worn out and grinding and trying to keep your job and not get to enjoy the islands,” World Golf Hall of Fame member Davis Love III, the tournament host, said Tuesday during a pre-tournament press conference.

The RSM Classic has a different feel this year. In the past, it has been the final tournament of the fall schedule before the Tour’s wrap-around season resumed in the first week of January, giving it a last-day-of-school feel. But the wrap-around season is no more and players outside the top 50 in the regular season have had seven tournaments in what was dubbed the FedEx Cup Fall to earn their way into the top 125. For the first time, the top 125 for the following season will be finalized at the RSM Classic.

“We’re the new Wyndham Championship,” Love III said, referring to the tournament that previously was the final opportunity for players to secure top 125 status, which gives players access to all full-field events and the Players Championship. (Numbers 126-150 will earn conditional status, unless otherwise exempt.)

‘Mini Q-School’

Players who finished Nos. 1-50 through the FedEx Cup Playoffs locked their position in the FedEx Cup, earned full exempt status for 2024 and qualified for all eight Signature Events in 2024. All players ranked No. 51 and beyond carried FedEx Cup points and continued to accumulate points through the FedEx Cup Fall.

All 20 players from Nos. 121-140 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings entering the week are in the field. Carl Yuan, a 26-year-old native of China who finished fourth last week at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, heads into the RSM Classic as the ‘Bubble Boy’ at No. 125.

“It’s almost like a little mini Q-School this week for those guys,” said Eric Cole, the leading candidate for Tour Rookie of the Year who already locked up his card for next season. “Depending on where you are, being right around that 125 bubble is tough.”

Veteran pro Zach Johnson, who has played in the RSM Classic 13 times, tied for the most appearances with Chris Kirk, has sensed a different vibe at his hometown event this week.

“It is the last week for some of these guys and they’ve got to make a dent. That’s golf, that’s competitive golf, that’s meritocracy, that’s PGA Tour golf and I think that’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “It’s also extremely brutal because it’s hard. Everybody’s really good and everybody essentially has the same goals and that’s to win.”

Patton Kizzire, who enters this week on the wrong side of the cutline at No. 130, said he spends too much time on Instagram and is trying to adopt the philosophical message of a Chinese proverb he read there and noted it may be for the best if he doesn’t keep his card.

“You know, the farmer’s horse dies and people come up to him and say, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ He’s like, ‘Maybe.’ Then the next day seven wild horses come up. ‘Oh, this is great.’ He’s like, ‘Maybe.’ It goes on and on down the line,” Kizzire recounted. “I’m at peace either way. I think whatever happens, happens.”

Access to Signature events

There are other consequences set to be determined at week’s end, including the “Next 10,” an eligibility pathway to earn access into Signature Events. Numbers 51-60 in the final FedEx Cup Fall standings, not otherwise exempt, will earn spots into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational with $20 million purses. Nine of the 10 players currently in position for one of the spots in The Next 10 are in the field – Beau Hossler, No. 51, has mathematically secured a place in The Next 10 and took the week off – as are seven of the players between Nos. 61-70. Sam Ryder is the bubble boy at No. 60 and knows what is at stake this week – a chance to have a head start on next season and play against the top fields.

“It’s been my very clear goal since the FedEx Cup Playoffs started,” said Ryder, who had his best regular season in six years on Tour, finishing the regular season at No. 61. “My schedule is subject to change depending how things go this week. I think it can really set me up for my whole year.”

The jockeying for position has forced Ryder to tee it up in six of the seven fall events.

“The nature of where I’m at, I felt like I had to (play),” he said.

It all comes down to this week. For those that come up short of their goal, all is not lost. This year, the Tour’s Q-School in December will offer cards to the top five and ties for the first time in over a decade. But no one wants to have to sweat out that pressure-cooker. Justin Lower, a 34-year-old journeyman pro who enters the week at No. 98, has been a poster child for the bubble boy role, and has endured the ecstasy of being on the right side of the cutline and the agony of his bubble bursting on too many occasions. Asked what he will miss about being on the bubble this week at the RSM Classic, Lower didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Absolutely nothing,” he said.

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Candidates for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2022-23 season

Let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award.

There were 28 rookies on the PGA Tour for the 2022-23 season, the same number that there were a year ago. It’s also the most since the Tour had 35 newbies for the 2011 season.

Two rookies won a Tour event this season: Nico Echavarria at the Puerto Rico Open and Vincent Norrman at the Barbasol Championship.

Of those 28, none made the 30-man field at the Tour Championship, the first time rookies were shut out of East Lake Golf Club since the 2020-21 season. Notably, there have never been more than two rookies in the season finale in the 17-year history of the FedEx Cup.

While plenty of these first-year players made some noise along the way this season, there can only be one Rookie of the Year. Players are still vying for the honor, as the FedEx Cup Fall series events count towards consideration.

There are three events left: the World Wide Technology Championship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in Bermuda and the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. Ballots for Rookie of the Year will be sent out after the RSM.

For now, let’s take a look at some of the top candidates for the Arnold Palmer Award with their FedEx Cup ranking in parentheses.

2023 Zozo Championship: Collin Morikawa’s early success among 5 things you missed from round 1

Here are five things you need to know from the opening round of the Zozo Championship.

Collin Morikawa isn’t the type to allow himself to think too far ahead but even he acknowledged that winning the Zozo Championship in Japan, the country where his father’s side of the family grew up, would hold a special place in his heart.

“There’s obviously a little bit more meaning to this tournament for me, but look, a win’s a win, I’ll take a win anywhere, right?” he said. “I’m doing everything I can the next three days and kind of tonight to make sure I give myself the best opportunity to do that.”

He’s off to a flying start, posting a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Thursday at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, the third time he’s shot that figure in 13 career rounds at the course. Morikawa, who started on the back nine, raced to three birdies in his first four holes and barely slowed down. He tacked on birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 and one more on his inward nine at the sixth. He drained an uphill 8-foot par putt at his last hole of the day to grab a one-stroke lead over five golfers.

Morikawa has won five times on the PGA Tour, including a pair of majors, at the precocious age of 26. But he’s also winless since the 2021 British Open and is anxious to get back into the winner’s circle. He blew a six-stroke 54-hole lead at the Sentry Championship in January and nearly won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July, losing in a playoff to Rickie Fowler. In the last two seasons, he’s recorded 14 top-10 finishes, tied with Tommy Fleetwood for the most during that span without a win. Morikawa is making his first start during the FedEx Cup Fall and competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup.

“Taking a few weeks off, you never know what you’re going to get, but I’ve been kind of working on a few things trying to get control of the golf ball, spent a lot of time putting yesterday,” Morikawa said. “It’s nice to kind of see the work I’ve put in, just kind of recreate that on the golf course.”

Here are four more things to know from the first round of the Zozo Championship.

Winning is hard: These 14 pros nearly picked up their first PGA Tour win this season

“Second place is just the first-place loser. There is no room for second place.”

With the calendar flipping to June, the PGA Tour counts eight first-time winners this season, including the duo of Davis Riley and Nick Hardy, who teamed up for their first wins at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

It was almost nine on Sunday as Denny McCarthy had a putt to win the Memorial only to be denied his maiden victory by Viktor Hovland.

McCarthy isn’t alone. So far this season, 14 different players have finished runner-up or tied for second 15 times while bidding for their first Tour title. If the Netflix documentary “Full Swing” taught us anything it is that winning is hard. (Don’t drink every time a player says just that or you may not make it through a single episode.)

“The only one who will remember you if you come in second place is your wife and your dog,” World Golf Hall of Famer Gary Player once said, “and that is only if you have a good wife and a good dog.”

NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt didn’t mince words either, saying, “Second place is just the first-place loser. There is no room for second place.”

Nevertheless, let’s take a closer look at this year’s runner-ups, who were so close to tasting victory and climbing another rung on the professional golf ladder with their first Tour wins.

‘It’s kind of an exciting time’: Eric Cole dishes on his new PGA Tour life after Honda Classic playoff

“There’s a few more people noticing what I’m doing, and that’s something that comes with good golf.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — It’s not a bad thing to be noticed. Especially if you’re Eric Cole, the true definition of a grinder who never gave up his dream of playing on the PGA Tour and was rewarded 14 years after turning pro.

What it took was one memorable weekend and the golf world suddenly was talking about this 34-year-old rookie. There he was this week, sitting on the set of the Golf Channel and being referenced by Jay Monahan during the commissioner’s State of the Tour address.

“There’s a few more people noticing what I’m doing,” Cole said Wednesday. “And that’s something that comes with good golf. And I’m all about playing good golf.

“So, you know, it’s kind of an exciting time for me.”

Playing good golf also meant a pathway into this week’s Players Championship, which Cole earned through his runner-up finish at the Honda Classic two weeks ago. That was the best week of his professional career, ending in a playoff and one shot behind winner Chris Kirk.

Cole’s first round at the Players on Thursday was, in his words, “a little bit shaky.” Perhaps uneven is an even better description with five birdies, four bogeys and a double on No. 18 (his ninth hole) in which his drive took an unfortunate bounce into the water. He shot a 1-over 73.

“It could have taken a little more friendly bounce, but it just kicked left, so it’s all good,” the upbeat Cole said about his tee shot at 18. “You’re not supposed to hit it over there.”

What helped Cole’s mood was a birdie on his finishing hole, the 601-yard No. 9. He landed his second shot on the fringe 42 feet from the pin and got up and down with a 4-foot putt.

“It was a good way to end the day,” he said.

Golf in his blood

Cole was born with golf in his blood. His mom, Laura Baugh, was the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year and finished with 70 top 10s in a 25-year LPGA career. His dad, Bobby Cole, a South African, won the 1977 Buick Open on the PGA Tour and twice finished third in a major.

But that did not guarantee success, and Eric persevered through the Minor League Golf Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour and even working as a golf teacher and a caddie for good friend Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer. Cole was on Saunders’ bag for the 2019 Florida Swing, including the Players.

“I’m proud of the work he’s put in,” said Baugh, who now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach. “A lot of people really support him and cheer him on because they can identify with him. He’s someone that’s really put in the time and effort. He’s a relatable guy.”

Baugh describes her son’s gallery as “passionate,” and that gallery was in full throttle at PGA National as Cole started his assault on the Champion Course. Four rounds under 70 on one of the toughest tracks on tour got Cole into a playoff.

Yet, despite his most successful (Cole never had a top-10 finish in his 17 previous PGA Tour starts) and profitable week in golf (Cole had $363,880 in career earnings before making $915,880 at Honda), he could not help but think of one shot.

Cole entered the 72nd hole one shot behind Kirk but seized the upper hand after Kirk’s second shot ricocheted into the water. Needing to get up and down from the fringe for a birdie, Cole’s chip shot came out hot and rolled off the green.

Cole settled for a par and left an otherwise memorable tournament with one regret.

“I probably could have played the same club but just played it a little lower,” he said about the chip. “It would have been a little safer shot to where if I did miss-hit it like I did, it would have still probably ended up on the green with the putt instead of up against the collar and the rough.”

With the playoff on the same 18th hole, Kirk tapped in for birdie and Cole’s birdie putt caught the lip.

“I played really well, the first three days, but the last day, I didn’t play as well, especially tee to green,” said Cole, who admitted to being nervous playing in the last group for the first time in a PGA Tour event.

“So it was kind of cool to be able to have a chance to win that tournament, even though I wasn’t playing my best. People talk about that all the time. You don’t have to play perfect golf to win. But to see it firsthand was pretty cool.”

What also was pretty cool was shooting 14 under, a Honda record since the event was moved to PGA National in 2007. He and Kirk now share it.

Cole could not carry the momentum into the Arnold Palmer Invitational the next week. He missed the cut after shooting 80 on the second day.

“I just didn’t play well,” he said. “And Bay Hill was so difficult that you didn’t have a whole lot of room to recover.

“I just played bad and then continued to press and be aggressive and just kind of magnified it. But that happens.”

So does “good golf,” and Cole is hoping that happens more often.

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Chris Kirk outduels Eric Cole in a playoff to win 2023 Honda Classic

The wait is finally over for Chris Kirk.

The wait is finally over for Chris Kirk.

Kirk rode a second-round 62 into the weekend, slept on a two-shot, 54-hole lead Saturday night and survived a playoff with rookie Eric Cole to win for the fifth time on the PGA Tour and first in eight years.

In his 179th start, Kirk claimed his first win since the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge and secured an invitation to the Masters Tournament.

But it wasn’t without a rollercoaster of emotions on the final hole. Facing a second shot from the fairway from 257 yards out, Kirk pushed his ball right and could only watch as it bounced off the retaining wall and came splashing down close the blue Honda SUV that floats in the water at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

After a drop and a wedge on, Kirk two-putted the par-5 last for a 69.

Meanwhile, Cole missed the 18th green long and left, overcooked a chip all the way across the green for his third before salvaging par to force the extra golf.

They replayed 18 again, and with his third shot using a 60-degree wedge, Kirk stuffed his approach, spinning it back to with a foot.

Cole’s third shot was from the bunker behind the green and he left it about 10 feet to the right of the hole. Needing to make birdie, his putt lipped out on the left side. Kirk then tapped in his birdie putt to claim the win.

“I just have so much to be thankful for. I’m so grateful,” Kirk said. “I’m so grateful for my sobriety. I’m so grateful for my family. I’m so grateful for everyone that’s supported me throughout the past three or four years especially. Thank you so much.”

He went on to thank his family.

“My wife Tahnee, I have not been the easiest person to be married to always, and my boys, Sawyer, Foster, Wilder, love you guys so much. Can’t wait to see you.”

Back to the wedge in the playoff. Kirk says he knew it was good the minute he struck it.

“I felt great about it but I’ve obviously got to get a little luck for it to end up six inches like that,” he said. “I just fought really, really hard today. I didn’t play my absolute best, but I never gave up. I heard Paul Azinger say I watched a highlight of me yesterday, and he said I looked like an emotionless robot, and I loved that. I absolutely loved it. I said today, I’m going to be an emotionless robot and I’m going to go stick to my guns and play aggressive and try to do the best I can.”

Earlier in the day, Cole had what had been up to that point the shot of the day  after draining a 70-foot double-breaking putt on the par-3 fifth hole to claim a share of the lead.

Earlier this year Kirk finished T-3 at the Sony Open in Hawaii and solo third at the American Express.

Tyler Duncan was solo third at 12 under. Monday qualifier Ryan Gerard was solo fourth at 10 under, earning a spot in the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open next week. The Arnold Palmer Invitational, a designated event, is also next week in Orlando.

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