INZAI, JAPAN – OCTOBER 24: Eric Cole of the United States hits his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the Zozo Championship 2024 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club on October 24, 2024 in Inzai, Chiba, Japan. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Eric Cole and C.T. Pan walked off 18 with a smile on their faces.
Cole did so after draining a 27-foot eagle putt to shoot 6-under 64.
“It was a 5-wood, I kind of had to cut it a little around the trees,” he explained. “I hit it a little high on the face so I thought it was going to be close to carrying the front of the green, so I was happy to see it land on the front, kind of release a little bit.”
His putter took care of the rest and wrapped up a strong start for Cole, who finished T-2 at the Zozo last year.
“I think you have to hit it relatively straight and you’ve got to be very precise with your irons and not really short side yourself. There’s just something about the way it looks that I think I like,” he said.
Pan finished with a flurry of four straight birdies to his round of 65.
“It was an amazing finish, one of my best in my career I believe,” he said.
Pan ranked first in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green and SG: Approach the Green and proximity to the hole. But he had missed two cuts and twice pulled out of tournaments in his last four starts before a final-round 64 in Las Vegas on Sunday.
“Actually kind of struggled last couple months because just kind of finding a hard time to score out there until last Sunday in Las Vegas, made nine birdies to climb up the leaderboard, so that was a big day for me, turning point for me,” he said.
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