The 2025 PGA Championship began on Thursday, and while many were criticizing the course for being too easy to host a major, there was still plenty of exciting action.
Before getting through the first round, fans and spectators got to witness one of the best moments the game has to offer. It wasn’t a golfer pitching it over a massive sand trap, rolling the green, and sinking in, nor was it someone sinking a 60-foot putt.
Instead, it was every golfer’s dream: a hole-in-one.
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Here’s more on Eric Cole’s ace at the 2025 PGA Championship.
Eric Cole hole-in-one at PGA Championship
Cole didn’t want to wait long before making sure he would never forget his first official round at Quail Hollow for this year’s PGA Championship.
In just his third career PGA Championship, Cole cemented himself in history and dropped an ace on hole No. 4.
🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨
Eric Cole makes a hole-in-one from 184 yards on the 4th hole. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/aSLMouOMdT
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2025
MORE GOLF: 2025 PGA Championship cut tracker | 2025 PGA Championship live score tracker
Who is Eric Cole?
Cole was born in 1988 and is 36 years old. He was born in Palm Springs, California, but now lives in Delray Beach, Florida. Cole attended Nova Southeastern University on Florida and became a pro golfer in 2009. He was friends in high school with Sam Saunders, who is Arnold Palmer’s grandson. This led to Cole spending time with Palmer and getting to know the legendary golfer.
He earned his Korn Ferry Tour card in 2017, and played in eight events. Cole returned to the Korn Ferry in 2021. He played in his first major at the 2021 U.S. Open, but he missed the cut. When he was 35, Cole was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2022-2023 season, the second-oldest golfer to win the award.
Cole has 12 wins on the Minor League Golf Tour, but is still looking for his first win on the PGA Tour. He has participated in seven majors, but has made the cut only four times. Cole’s best major finish was at the 2023 PGA Championship when he finished tied for 15th. His hole in one on Hole No. 4 sets him up for more success at the major in 2025.
