05/30/26 06:44:00
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05/30 18:42 CDT Eric Cole gets a shot at his 1st PGA Tour win after 63 in 3rd
round at Colonial
Eric Cole gets a shot at his 1st PGA Tour win after 63 in 3rd round at Colonial
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) --- Eric Cole put himself in position for a shot at his
first PGA Tour victory, starting fast and finishing with a season-best round
for his first 54-hole lead.
Cole birdied four of his first eight holes on way to a 7-under 63 on Saturday
in third round at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. His only bogey was
sandwiched by birdies on the back nine.
By matching the best round of the tournament, Cole got to 12-under 198 and one
stroke ahead of Ryan Gerard, who finished his round of 68 with back-to-back
birdies. Mac Meissner (67) and reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (68) were
two strokes back. Spaun birdied with a blast out of a greenside bunker at the
428-yard 15th hole after bogeys on two of his previous three holes.
Hogan's Alley firmed up in the heat of a 90-degree day after rain earlier in
the week, and it is expected to be even warmer Sunday. The scoring average for
the third round was 71.2, after being under par each of the first two days.
"I kind of knew going into it that it was going to be a harder course, firmer
conditions," Cole said. "Getting off to that start and realizing how much
harder the course was today was great."
PGA Tour rookie Jordan Smith, who entered the day leading at 10 under with a
one-stroke lead, had four bogeys without a birdie in a round of 4-over 74 to
drop to a tie for 19th place. He had three consecutive bogeys at Nos. 5 through
7 after only one bogey in his first 40 holes before that.
This is the 120th PGA start for the 37-year-old Cole, whose parents were both
former professional players. His mother, Laura Baugh, was the LPGA's rookie of
the year in 1973 and had 70 top-10 finishes over a 25-year LPGA career. Bobby
Cole, from South Africa, won once on the PGA Tour.
Cole, who will be going for a win on his mother's 71st birthday Sunday, last
played in the final group in the final round at the 2025 Sony Open, when he
finished fifth. His PGA Tour debut was in 2021.
"It's not going to be an easy day tomorrow. I know that from my experience,"
Cole said. "I know that it's going to be difficult, but that's why I practice
really hard and that's why I try and do everything the way I do so that I could
be as prepared for whatever tomorrow brings."
His chip-in from 27 feet off edge of the green at the 196-yard par-3 16th came
after the bogey at the par-4 15th. He birdied the 439-yard 14th hole after an
approach shot inside 5 feet.
Cole went into Saturday tied for 25th and five strokes off the lead.
Gerard had three bogeys and three birdies until his impressive finish. After a
tap-in birdie at the 399-yard 17th, he hit his approach to 6 feet at the
424-yard closing hole while playing in the final threesome of the day.
"Felt like I was just kind of grinding it out pretty hard all day. Felt really
confident with how I've been playing, I just didn't feel like I was hitting it
as close as yesterday and wasn't leaving my ball in the greatest spots," Gerard
said. "So it's one of those, every shot really matters, any time you get a
chance to capitalize on an opportunity you've got to take advantage of it.
Meissner, 27, who lives in Dallas and played at SMU, had five birdies through
11 holes. He missed an opportunity to go lower with two bogeys on the back nine.
"There was a lot of positives. I like how I drove it on the front nine, I gave
myself a lot of opportunities, a lot of birdie opportunities," Meissner said.
"The goal tomorrow for sure will just be to try and get the ball in the fairway
a little bit more. It's difficult out here."
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