CROMWELL, Conn. — Eric Cole was having one of those days; the kind that makes the years it took to make the PGA Tour, and the years toiling, still in search of his first win, worthwhile.

Bogey-free, birdie-laden, Cole leaned over a chip shot, 63 feet, 9 inches from the cup on No. 13. This one hit the softened green just right and rolled in for an eagle.

That kind of day. The kind that makes that elusive first win on the PGA Tour s eem reachable.

“It was a good way to start the tournament, for sure,” Cole said, after completing his opening-round 7-under 63 at the Travelers Championship on Thursday at TPC River Highlands. “We had really good conditions to start the day, limited wind, greens were pretty soft, so there were birdies to be made out there. I felt like I played solid and kept giving myself chances and a few of ’em went in, so that was nice.”

It was a far cry from a year ago, when Cole was putting together a solid weekend, on the edges of contention when he had to withdraw before the final round. He has overcome serious medical conditions throughout his long career, but that was the first, and so far the only time it forced him out of a tournament.

“It was very unfortunate and I was not happy about the whole thing,” Cole said. “But pretty much I just got a stomach bug and I have a disease called Addison’s disease, which, when your body is under stress, I don’t produce the same hormones that a healthy person would. So I went into this thing called adrenal crisis, which needs like medical attention. So spent the night in the hospital and was not in shape to come out and play, which was disappointing, because I was playing pretty well and I love this tournament and I wanted to be a part of Sunday.

“So, yeah, I’m not sure if it’s redemption, but I’m happy to be here and feeling good. Hopefully I have none of that this year.”

Addison’s disease is rare, affecting one in 20,000, usually developing between the ages of 30 and 50. If it sounds familiar, it was an illness that afflicted President John F. Kennedy. Cole also manages Type 1 diabetes, with a long-acting insulin shot each morning, short-acting shots before meals, and he wears an insulin pump and blood glucose monitor on the course. He carries sugar-free protein bars and snacks with fast-acting carbs through his rounds. And there is daily meds for Addison’s.

All this is necessary for Eric Cole to be where he most wants to be, on the course. Golf is in his blood. His father, Bobby, won 14 pro tournaments in the 1960s and ’70s, and his mother, Laura Baugh, was LPGA Rookie of the Year in 1973 and went on to earn 71 top-10 finishes.

Eric started playing when he was about 11, often with Arnold Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders. As a freshman at Nova Southeastern University, his condition was correctly diagnosed and his weight dropped to 110 pounds. But he was not about to stop. He turned pro in 2009 and competed for years on the minor-league tours, including the Korn Ferry, winning 56 times.

Cole, now 5 feet 9 and 155 pounds, earned his Tour card at age 35 in 2023 and made a splash, 11-under after two rounds at The Travelers, a stop his father had made a dozen times. He fell back, finishing 13-under and tied for 24th. He was 5-under in 2024 and was on the fringe of contention in 2025 after shooting 68, 67 and 69 in the first three rounds. Had he shot even par in the final round, he stood to make about $250,000 with a top-20 finish, but instead spent the night in the hospital, having to withdraw from a tournament for the first time.

He has, however, been a consistent contender in his three-plus years on the PGA Tour, with several top-15 finishes in recent weeks. Cole has been ranked as high as 36th in the world, and came into this Travelers 64th. In 122 career starts, he’s finished 42 times in the top 25, earning more than $14 million.

“I wish I knew the answer and I had some secret to give out,” he said. “I think it was just a lot of the hard work that I put in earlier in the year, and while it didn’t necessarily yield any results, like I just kind of had faith that I was working on the right stuff and that eventually some results would come from it. So, yeah, I’m going to go with just it’s a longer process than maybe I would have hoped for.”

After making two birdies on the front nine, he caught fire with three birdies and the eagle, good for 30 on the back nine. “From 13 on is where you can really kind of score,” Cole said. He missed a 10 1/2-foot putt for birdie on 18, coming off the course frustrated.

“I just thought I read that putt really well,” he said. “I kind of took my time with it, and it didn’t break like I thought. I definitely wasn’t bummed out with the round, I was just bummed that one didn’t break like I thought it would. But it’s a long tournament and stuff like that happens, so it’s all good.”

That sent Cole into the clubhouse 7-under in the early afternoon, with some of the best golfers in the world teeing off later on. Predictably, Scottie Scheffler, No.1 on the planet, was in the pack that came after the top spot. Scheffler, Justin Rose, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick closed in, but Cole’s 63 held up.

The competition will be fierce, with a dozen top players within a stroke or two, but Eric Cole has had every imaginable obstacle thrown in front of him, and he’s given himself another chance to chase that elusive first win. Maybe this is the week it happens.

“It’s not really urgency. I mean, obviously it’s everybody’s goal,” he said. “I’ve now played a decent amount on Tour and winning is something I want to do. I’m just trying to get myself in that spot where have I more opportunities and then hopefully just the more I do that, the more likely it is that I’ll win.”

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