2023 Sanderson Farms Championship: Top 10 power rankings

Eric Cole was one of the top rookies last season on the PGA Tour. His most memorable moment was reaching a playoff at the Honda Classic, where he took second after losing in a playoff to Chris Kirk.

That was the first of three top-10s for the former mini-tour legend. Cole, 35, has been remarkably consistent in the big leagues. He comes to the Sanderson Farms Championship on a streak of nine straight made cuts dating back to April.

The diminutive Cole doesn’t bomb the ball like so many top players do. He just plods along, limiting mistakes and finding ways to get the ball in the hole faster than you.

He led the PGA Tour in total birdies (461). Part of that is due to playing a busy schedule, but that’s a lot of skill, too. Those mini-tours require you to take it super low, so red numbers are normal for this man.

Cole is making his second appearance at the Country Club of Jackson. He’s hoping this year turns out more like his second round in 2022 rather than his first. Cole posted 78-68 to miss the cut by four.

Speaking of four, that’s the place the Nova Southeastern University alum took to open the fall schedule a few weeks ago at the Fortinet Championship.

Cole beat a slew of great players in Napa who were in the top 10 like Justin Thomas, Max Homa, and Matt Kuchar.

He finished last season ranked 17th in total strokes gained per round (.977). Cole was 35th in SG around-the-green (.222), 24th in SG approach (.491), and 12th in SG putting (.523).