PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 18, 2023

Eric Cole

Oak Hill Country Club

Flash Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Eric Cole joins us now at the conclusion of the first day of the 105th PGA Championship here at Oak Hill.

Eric, you are currently 5-under, I believe, through 13 holes. How did it go out there for you today?

ERIC COLE: It was a good day. 5-under through the holes that I played was good. I played solid for the most part and got a couple of good breaks when I needed them, so it was a good day.

Q. Looks like you got three straight birdies there on 2, 3, and 4. Could you maybe walk us through those?

ERIC COLE: Yeah. 2, I hit it in the fairway and had a good yardage. Then I hit a good shot in there. Didn't want to go long. So I kept it below the hole, which is important on Donald Ross courses. So made a good putt there.

Then 3 is a really tough par-3, and hit a 5-iron to maybe 15 or 18 feet and rolled that in. Then hit a good wedge into the par-5 after laying up. So that's three birdies in a row in a major championship. That's always a good thing.

Q. What do you feel like you're doing really well out there?

ERIC COLE: I'm hitting my irons pretty well, I feel like. The few opportunities that you have -- because you don't have a ton, obviously. It's a hard course. When I did have an opportunity, I kind of felt like I happened to read it right and hit a good putt, and they went in today, so that was good.

Q. It's a work in progress, but what's it like to see your name on the top of the board at a major championship?

ERIC COLE: It's nice. I like it a lot. Whenever you play, you want to compete to win. That's the spot I like to see my name at, and hopefully it is there more often.

Q. And with what you showed at the Honda, do you have a lot of confidence that this is something you can get done?

ERIC COLE: Yeah. I mean, I just have got to keep focusing on what I've been doing. If the results happen, then they do. I hit 180 yards for my shot on No. 6, so I'm going to focus on getting ready to hit that shot for tomorrow morning.