SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — Eric Cole had his foot slip on a drive that went 25 yards and was never found. He hit a shank out of play from the rough. So the conversation with his wife after one forgettable round of the British Open was not about golf.
“We were looking at different flights home (to Florida),” Cole said.
No need to change the reservation. All the bounces that went against the 38-year-old American were in his favor Friday as he ran off three straight birdies on the front nine, four in a row on the back nine and improved 12 shots from the previous day with a 6-under 64 to get back to even par for the championship.
He was not yet in position to contend. But he was not quite ready to leave.
“I was just trying to have a good day and relax and enjoy The Open Championship,” Cole said. “Hit some good shots and didn't get any weird bounces.”
Cole was the first example that Royal Birkdale was more vulnerable in the second round, with lighter wind and accessible pins. Lucas Herbert of Australia tied a British Open record with a 28 on the front nine.
Most peculiar about the 12-shot improvement was that Cole didn't feel as though he played all that much differently than his opening 76 that included three double bogeys.
The shocker was on No. 11 when his right foot slipped on his tee shot, he barely made contact and the ball tumbled about 25 yards away into thick, high grass.
“We never found the ball,” he said. “It just rolled into the gunch. So I had to re-tee. That was another double bogey.”
Then on the par-5 17th, his club caught a clump of grass and turned over, leading to a shank into the trees that forced him into taking a penalty shot and replaying the shot. Another double bogey.
“Tee to green yesterday, I felt like I played great. I know that’s weird to say, but I really did feel like I was hitting the ball where I was aiming and the swing felt good,” he said. “I’m just chalking it up to random outlier.”
This is Cole's second Open but he knew what to expect. His father is South African player Bobby Cole, who finished one shot out of the 1975 playoff at Carnoustie that Tom Watson won and twice has played at Royal Birkdale.
Eric Cole created some memories of his own over two days, good and bad. Friday was so good that Cole briefly thought about a record score when he was 6 under for the day with two par 5s ahead of him. Instead, he finished with five straight pars that figured to give him two more days at Birkdale.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Pickleball Read morePickleball
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
Is a damaged vehicle worth one’s life? I guess the Jeep passenger felt it was and there are no mulligans
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.