PITTSFORD, NY — Eric Cole is one more good day at the PGA Championship from taking a solid rookie season and turning it into a memorable one.
Cole shot an even-par 70 Saturday, moving up the leaderboard on a rainy, difficult day at Oak Hill Country Club. The Delray Beach resident was tied for ninth when his round ended and enters the final round at 1-over.
“Very satisfied with the score,” Cole said. “It was absolutely brutal out there playing in the rain. The rough being so thick and wet made it where you absolutely had to hit it in the fairway, which I did, which was nice, for most of the day.”
Cole hit 9-of-14 fairways Saturday after landing in just four while shooting a 74 Friday.
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Cole was 1-over at the turn but got that back, and more, with birdies on the 10th and 14th holes. He drained a 16-footer on No. 10 and got up and down on the par-4 No. 14 after landing in a bunker 46 feet from the hole.
“That was kind of a cool shot,” said Cole, the son of former tour pros Laura Baugh and Bobby Cole. “I was just barely on the downhill of the bunker so I couldn’t go at the pin like I probably would have if I had a little more flat or uphill lie so I went up the hill and brought it back.
“It worked out good. It’s nice when a plan works out.”
Cole, 34, is playing in his second major — he missed the cut at the 2021 US Open. His highlights this year were finishing second at the Honda Classic where he lost a playoff to Chris Kirk, and getting into the field at the Players Championship, where he was 27th.
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He’s had mixed results entering the PGA Championship. In his last four tournaments, Cole was 23rd at the Byron Nelson, missed the cut at the Wells Fargo, fifth at the Mexico Open and missed the cut at the Zurich Classic.
But now he’s in position for a career-defining day.
“It’s exciting,” Cole said about facing the biggest day of his golfing career. “I don’t want to not get excited about it. That’s why I practice and spent all these years trying to get here. I’m just going to focus on what I’ve been doing and try to get some rest.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA Tour rookie Eric Cole’s 70 has him in contention on final day of PGA Championship