Eric Cole gets a shot at his 1st PGA Tour win after 63 in 3rd round at Colonial

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Eric Cole put himself in position for a shot at his first PGA Tour victory, starting fast and finishing with a season-best round for his first 54-hole lead.

Cole birdied four of his first eight holes on way to a 7-under 63 on Saturday in third round at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. His only bogey was sandwiched by birdies on the back nine.

By matching the best round of the tournament, Cole got to 12-under 198 and one stroke ahead of Ryan Gerard, who finished his round of 68 with back-to-back birdies. Mac Meissner (67) and reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (68) were two strokes back. Spaun birdied with a blast out of a greenside bunker at the 428-yard 15th hole after bogeys on two of his previous three holes.

Hogan’s Alley firmed up in the heat of a 90-degree day after rain earlier in the week, and it is expected to be even warmer Sunday. The scoring average for the third round was 71.2, after being under par each of the first two days.

“I kind of knew going into it that it was going to be a harder course, firmer conditions,” Cole said. “Getting off to that start and realizing how much harder the course was today was great.”

PGA Tour rookie Jordan Smith, who entered the day leading at 10 under with a one-stroke lead, had four bogeys without a birdie in a round of 4-over 74 to drop to a tie for 19th place. He had three consecutive bogeys at Nos. 5 through 7 after only one bogey in his first 40 holes before that.

This is the 120th PGA start for the 37-year-old Cole, whose parents were both former professional players. His mother, Laura Baugh, was the LPGA’s rookie of the year in 1973 and had 70 top-10 finishes over a 25-year LPGA career. Bobby Cole, from South Africa, won once on the PGA Tour.

Cole, who will be going for a win on his mother’s 71st birthday Sunday, last played in the final group in the final round at the 2025 Sony Open, when he finished fifth. His PGA Tour debut was in 2021.

“It’s not going to be an easy day tomorrow. I know that from my experience,” Cole said. “I know that it’s going to be difficult, but that’s why I practice really hard and that’s why I try and do everything the way I do so that I could be as prepared for whatever tomorrow brings.”

His chip-in from 27 feet off edge of the green at the 196-yard par-3 16th came after the bogey at the par-4 15th. He birdied the 439-yard 14th hole after an approach shot inside 5 feet.

Cole went into Saturday tied for 25th and five strokes off the lead.

Gerard had three bogeys and three birdies until his impressive finish. After a tap-in birdie at the 399-yard 17th, he hit his approach to 6 feet at the 424-yard closing hole while playing in the final threesome of the day.

“Felt like I was just kind of grinding it out pretty hard all day. Felt really confident with how I’ve been playing, I just didn’t feel like I was hitting it as close as yesterday and wasn’t leaving my ball in the greatest spots,” Gerard said. “So it’s one of those, every shot really matters, any time you get a chance to capitalize on an opportunity you’ve got to take advantage of it.

Meissner, 27, who lives in Dallas and played at SMU, had five birdies through 11 holes. He missed an opportunity to go lower with two bogeys on the back nine.

“There was a lot of positives. I like how I drove it on the front nine, I gave myself a lot of opportunities, a lot of birdie opportunities,” Meissner said. “The goal tomorrow for sure will just be to try and get the ball in the fairway a little bit more. It’s difficult out here.”

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J.J. Spaun watches his tee shot on the ninth hole during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Ryan Gerard lines up a putt on the ninth hole during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Joel Dahmen, right, reaches into his bag with caddie Jon Reehoorn on the 18th green after play was suspended due to weather during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens now have a second option at kicker.

The Ravens signed Jake Moody to the practice squad after second-year man Tyler Loop struggled a bit during preseason. Loop went 4 for 7 on field goals in preseason games this year, missing from 49, 51 and 58 yards.

“I have a lot of confidence in Tyler still. He’s had a great training camp,” Ravens coach Jesse Minter said. “I expect him to be our kicker going into (Week 1 at) Indianapolis. But I think again, you’re always trying to just have every scenario covered.”

Loop went just 1 for 4 from 50 yards and beyond last season. He missed only one field goal inside 50, but it was a 44-yarder on the final play of the final game. When that kick went wide right at Pittsburgh, it cost Baltimore a playoff spot.

Moody played college football at Michigan, including for one season when Minter was a defensive coordinator there.

Moody played his first two NFL seasons with San Francisco, then kicked for the 49ers, Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders last season. The Commanders cut him during training camp this year.

He is 64 of 82 on field goals in his career, 8 of 14 from 50 yards and beyond.

“Jake's just kind of been on the radar. He's a guy that's had success in this league,” Minter said. “It's whatever's best for the team at that particular moment, so we added a guy to compete on the practice squad and kind of see how it shakes out from there.”

The big news from the Ravens on roster cutdown day Sunday was defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike making the 53-man roster, instead of needing an injured reserve stint. Madubuike missed almost all of last season with a neck injury.

It's still not clear when exactly he'll be able to play in a game, but Madubuike avoiding an IR designation suggests the team feels he can return close to the start of the season.

“When you do that, you're talking about four games, if you were to start him there. So I don't see him obviously missing that many games," Minter said. “He's just doing more and more.”

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop (33) misses a field goal attempt against the Washington Commanders during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)