Story by
All Eric Cole needed was to finally get to the PGA Tour. It looks like he's there to stay
- Story by
- All Eric Cole needed was to finally get to the PGA Tour. It looks like he's there to stay
Laura Baugh knew that if Eric Cole got to the PGA Tour, it would be to stay.
After all, Moms know best.
"He got exempt on the PGA Tour," she said after Cole shot 61 in the third round of the RSM Classic, on his way to a tie for third and his sixth top-five finish of the season. "The people who know Eric, who play with him, aren't surprised."
Advertisement
Baugh, who has a teaching academy at The Palencia Club in St. Augustine, meant that once Cole broke through by finishing among the top 50 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour, he'd be on the Tour to stay. And seven top-10s and a current world ranking of 41st bear that out.
Who replaces the Zinger? Paul Azinger is out as NBC's golf analyst. Who's next? (Maybe a certain left-hander?)
And pressure? Cole is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, but he led the Tour in total birdies with 554, made 28 cuts and was one of its best putters. It's obviously a stroke that was honed over the pressure of winning 54 minitour events.
"He had to make 10-footers to pay rent," Baugh said. "There's not much more pressure than that."
Advertisement
Cole, whose father is former PGA Tour player Bobby Cole,went head-to-head for most of the week with RSM winner Ludvig Aberg and in the end, it wasn't about what Cole didn't do but everything about Aberg shooting 61-61 on the weekend to set the PGA Tour record for 72-hole scoring at 29-under 253.
Eric Cole led the PGA Tour in birdies and posted six top-five finishes in his rookie season.
Cole's score of 22-under would have 11 of the 13 RSM Classics and been good enough for playoff in two others,
"No pressure … definitely nervous," Cole said after a final-round 67. "It's a good thing. That's where you want to be, that's the group you want to be in, near the lead is awesome. I definitely feel it even though I've had some good weeks and I hope I continue to feel that in the future."
Advertisement
Cole had some solid ball-striking stats this season but what carried him week after week was his putting. Two numbers stood out: he was fourth on the Tour for one-putt greens and second for the fewest three-putts. He was second in average putts per green in regulation (1.691 and 13thin Strokes Gained putting.
Cole will have a busy off-season but strictly in regard to family. He is getting married to Stephanie Williams in Key Largo next month and will resurface at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii.
Nice spot for golf – and a second honeymoon. If there's a Tour player who's paid his dues and deserves it more, it's Eric Cole.
Ludvig Aberg by the numbers
When Ludvig Aberg shot 61 in the final round on Sunday to win the RSM Classic by a PGA Tour record score of 27-under 253, it was his 50th round on Tour.
Advertisement
That gave him the minimum number of rounds to be listed among the Tour's statistical leaders and the numbers showed why he had such a dazzling performance after turning pro out of Texas Tech in June.
He finished second in average proximity to the hole (33 feet, 4 inches), third in greens in regulation (73.3 percent) and 12th in adjusted scoring average (69.603).
All of that translated into high finishes on the PGA Tour's Strokes Gained indices: 10th in Strokes Gained total, 2nd Strokes Gained off the tee and 10th Strokes Gained tee-to-green.
In 16 PGA Tour starts, he finished the season ranked 32nd in the world, 53rd on the FedEx Cup points list and 55th in earnings with $3,144,994.
Advertisement
Ryan Moore the only player to move up
The RSM Classic was the final tournament of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season and the last chance for players to move into the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list and keep their Tour cards for 2024.
Only one took advantage of that.
Veteran Ryan Moore entered the week No. 128 and with a tie for eighth at Sea Island moved to No. 118.
One player fell out of the top 125, Carl Yuan, a native of China who is living in Jacksonville. Yuan made the RSM Classic cut but shot only 1-under on the weekend and finished tied for 68th. That dropped him to No. 130 on the points list, which gives him conditional status for the Tour.
Advertisement
Two players entered the week outside the top 150 and got inside that number to be eligible for the final stage of PGA Tour Q-School in December, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Kelly Kraft and Vince Whaley.
Two players earned 2024 Tour cards by collecting enough non-member FedEx Cup points to match the No. 125 threshold, DP World Tour winner Nicolai Hojgaard and Min Woo Lee, who contended at The Players Championship were Special Temporary Members on the Tour.
Joining Hojgaard are the players who finished among the top 10 on the DP World Tour Race to Dubai and are being offered Tour membership for 2024: Adrian Meronk, Ryan Fox, Victor Perez, Thorbjørn Olesen, Alexander Björk, Sami Valimaki, Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon, Jorge Campillo and Ryo Hisatsune.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Laura Baugh had faith if son Eric Cole got to PGA Tour it would be for good
