‘Very Disappointing’: PGA Tour Pro Breaks Silence After Blowing Winning Chance at Charles Schwab Challenge

After 120 career appearances, the first PGA Tour win of Eric Cole’s career was within an arm’s reach. All he needed to do was score a 1-under par on Sunday. But he couldn’t cross the finish line and ended up pushing things to the playoff with Russell Henley. And he expressed how upset he was about losing the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge in the end.

“It’s very disappointing,” Cole told Mark Immelman during a post-event interview. He added, “I felt like I played pretty well today. It’s a tricky course. It hung pretty tough when I didn’t miss a few shots today. It’s disappointing. But I played well, and I’m proud of that. It feels good to be in contention here. The course played very difficult the last few days. So I was very proud of how I played. Just needed to shoot one shot better.”

Cole had the title in the bag for most of the final round. While he was only one stroke ahead of the field, no one was able to cover the deficit. In fact, Henley’s challenge came as a surprise, as after 15 holes, he was three strokes behind first place. The champion scored three birdies in the last three holes to finish his round on level with Cole. The 6-time PGA Tour champion also admitted that the final round was quite frustrating as he wouldn’t have been a challenger if not for his performance in the end.

Still trophyless on the PGA Tour, Cole also endured a tough run in the final round. He started the day at 12-under par and finished on the same score. The 37-year-old had managed to score three birdies throughout the round. But a bogey on the 4th and a double bogey on the 9th pushed him back to where he had started.

"It's disappointing but I played well and I'm proud of that."

Eric Cole spoke with Mark Immelman following his playoff loss at the Charles Schwab Challenge. pic.twitter.com/bfjKLVKRUC

— Golf on CBS (@GolfonCBS) May 31, 2026

But Eric Cole’s run on Sunday was not a reflection of how he had performed throughout the 2026 Charles Schwab Challenge. Let’s look at what he did in the other rounds.

Eric Cole’s rise to the top of the leaderboard in Texas before Sunday morning

Before the final round, Eric Cole had proven himself to be a firm favorite to win the tournament. He had progressively delivered better performance after each passing round.

On Thursday, he shot a 3-under 67 with three birdies and no errors throughout the day. While everyone on the field was making mistakes, he remained composed on the field. He found the greens in regulation 83% of the time and had a 100% success rate with scambles. These were the key factors that helped him save pars throughout the day.

He managed a 2-under 68 in the second round that included six birdies and four bogeys. Cole had an eventful day where he gained a lot of strokes around the green and made some excellent putts whenever he reached the green in regulation strokes. However, he struggled to score on other occasions.

Saturday was the most prosperous round for the 37-year-old as he shot a 7-under 63. He was excellent in his approach shots and putting throughout the round. Eric Cole found greens in regulation 72.22% of the time and made the putts per GIR to earn 1.46 strokes. That was the key in him earning such a great score going into the final round. Had he been able to replicate that form on Sunday then he would have been a one time PGA Tour champion already.

The post ‘Very Disappointing’: PGA Tour Pro Breaks Silence After Blowing Winning Chance at Charles Schwab Challenge appeared first on EssentiallySports.