Eric Cole Leads By One After 63 at Colonial
eric cole is alone at the top after 54 holes at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and his seven-under 63 on Saturday put him one shot clear at Colonial Country Club. The 37-year-old heads into Sunday at 12 under while still chasing his first PGA Tour victory.
Cole Builds the Lead
Cole started the day five shots off the lead, then moved through the round with four birdies on the front nine and more scoring on holes 10, 11 and 14. He made his only bogey at the 15th, answered with a birdie at 16, and closed with two pars to finish the day with a 63.
That left him at 12 under and one stroke ahead of Ryan Gerard, who shot 68 and birdied the final two holes to stay in touch. Nico Echavarria posted a 65 and was two shots behind Cole for the best round among the immediate challengers.
Colonial Pressure Points
The lead comes in Cole’s 120th career start, with two runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes already on his record, all of them in 2023. His closest call came in the 2023 Honda Classic, where he lost in a playoff.
That background gives Sunday a sharper edge than a routine 54-hole lead. Cole has spent enough time near the top to know how quickly a tournament can turn on one stretch of holes, and Saturday’s field showed that the board can tighten fast behind him.
Spaun, Meissner, and the Chase
J.J. Spaun and Mac Meissner were tied at 10 under, keeping both within range if Cole stumbles early. Spaun won the 2025 U.S. Open and most recently took the Valero Texas Open a month ago, while a group of seven players sat at seven under, including Justin Thomas, Gary Woodland, Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia and Brian Harman.
Cole said Sunday would likely play much like Saturday if the wind shows up, and he pointed to firmer conditions and no rain leaving the course with little chance to soften. That makes his task plain: repeat enough of Saturday’s clean scoring to keep control of a lead built when the course was already asking for precision.
