Eric

Cole

Cole ended his week with the round of the day and the low round of his career. His previous low round was 65 (x4). “Almost everything was working pretty well... I was lucky to make a few putts, too. So it kind of worked out on the back nine.” Cole was 7.3 shots better than the field average today, ranked 7th on approach, 5th around-the-green, and 4th putting. This was Cole’s eighth straight week in action and he’ll stay busy next week at the U.S. Open. “You know, this course isn’t probably going to be as penal as the U.S. Open. But it is a very tough course and you have to hit it where you’re aiming. Playing out of some of that thick rough probably will be good preparation for next week.”

Morning frost delayed the start of round one by nearly two hours (1 hour, 50 minutes). That is the culprit for Cole getting stranded today but he made the most of holes he played today. Cole piled up six birdies while dropping just one shot along the way. “I played solid for the most part and got a couple of good breaks when I needed them, so it was a good day.” Cole has found himself in the mix a few times this year, most notably when he reached a playoff at The Honda Classic. If he closes strong tomorrow morning this would be his first time leading or co-leading after any round on the PGA TOUR.

The Florida resident popped with a runner-up finish back at the Honda Classic but had failed to find a top 25 in six starts since then. He got back into the mix this week in Mexico, piling up 22 birdies to erase a six-pack of bogeys. His tee-to-green game was steady enough (20th) but a hot putter really catapulted him up the board (+6.4 SG:Putting, 4th). Cole now climbs from 59th to 45th in the FedExCup standings. He will try to maintain this momentum next week at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Cole’s regular caddie is back home for a family wedding so one of Cole’s friends is filling in on the bag this week. They meshed well today with seven birdies to erase a lone blemish. Iron play was the key to success as he walked off the course gaining 4.1 strokes on approach (2nd). “I hit my irons really well so I didn’t really get myself out of position much as far as like coming into the greens, I kind of had simple chips on the reachable holes.” Cole popped with a playoff loss at the Honda Classic in late February but his form has simmered since then. He’s back on page one with 54 holes remaining at Vidanta Villarta.

Playing in the final group today, Cole landed just 11 GIR but showed no sign of nerves with the flat stick. He gained 4.7 strokes putting in round four (+8.4 for the week). “I’m a little disappointed. Obviously I wanted to win, but I didn’t have my best game today, especially ball-striking, and I hung in there pretty tough, and I was proud of that.” Playing in his 15th career PGA TOUR event, he was arriving off a career-best T15 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but now he has a new personal best on his resume.

Cole started his week with a surprise marriage proposal to his girlfriend after Monday’s practice round at Pebble Beach Golf Links. “It’s just such a special week for us that I could have shot 65 or 85 and we’re still going to have a good time.” The PGA TOUR rookie took on Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Shore Course in round one today and racked up seven birdies to erase a single blemish. He’s on cloud nine right now and will look to keep the momentum rolling when he turns his attention to the host course on Friday.

After kicking off his season with a T-51 in the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, Cole followed up with three straight top 10s – finishing T-7 at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, T-10 at the Panama Championship and T-7 at the Astara Golf Championship. In his last start, at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, he was T-14 and carded a 62 in the second round. Cole is among the leaders in several notable stats including first in total birdies (90), first in par-4 scoring average (3.88), ninth in scoring average (69.10) and 10th in birdie average (4.50). Last season, he made 16 cuts in 31 KFT starts with his best finish being a T-3 at the Savannah Golf Championship.

Having played 27 events on the Korn Ferry Tour during this double season, Eric Cole is on the outside looking in. Needing to be inside the top-75 to make the KFT finals, Cole is hoping a quality start at the John Deere Classic could push him through via a different route. Thanks to a conversation with Chase Koepka, Cole ‘s perspective has changed, and when asked about Monday qualifying, Cole had this to say, “Yeah, I have learned that the guys out there are very good, so it requires some good play to have good finishes and stuff like that. I haven’t played a ton of Mondays, just because I’ve kind of been focusing on that. I played Punta Cana Monday earlier in the year because I’m from south Florida so it was near where I live. But the reason why I did this one is where I’m at on the Korn Ferry points list, with the two seasons in one, it takes a lot to move from 170th where I’m at to top-75 to make Korn Ferry finals and I already have some non-member FedExCup points from Punta Cana, so if I get in a tournament I could get in that top-200, so that’s kind of where my focus turned. I kind of realized that recently so I have a little different outlook here.”