WHY TOUR ROOKIE ERIC COLE DROVE OVERNIGHT TO PLAY (AND WIN) A MINI-TOUR EVENT

PGA TOUR rookie Eric Cole, son of South African golfer Bobby Cole has earned nearly $3 million this season.

But it’s perhaps a $20,000 winner’s check that means the most.

In a golf season that has been anything but conventional, Cole took one of the year’s most unconventional journeys – an overnight 480-mile drive from Connecticut to western Pennsylvania to play (and win) the final Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational, an event that once kept his career afloat.

After finishing T24 at the Travelers, his 10th straight week on TOUR, Cole embarked on a seven-anda-half-hour journey to play the Frank B. Fuhrer Jr. Invitational, a mini-tour event with significance that dates to his time in golf’s hinterlands.

Back in 2014, Fuhrer Jr. gave Cole a spot in the field. At the time, Cole was a struggling mini-tour player without much status to speak of. He paid the tournament entry fee on a credit card. He won.

The $40,000 winner’s check provided a catalyst for his professional career. He paid off the entry fee and suddenly had a cushion for subsequent entry fees and the typical expenses of a mini-tour pro. Essentially, it allowed him to keep going.

This marked the final edition of the event. Cole had played it every year since, and he was intent on seeing the streak through.

“Mr. Fuhrer passed away last year … this was the last year of his tournament, so I felt like it was a really important thing for me to be there and play in it,” Cole said. “It was cool to be part of the last edition of his tournament. To be there, one, and then to win the last edition of his tournament was awesome.”