The thought of an early flight back to Florida had already entered American professional golfer Eric Cole’s mind by Thursday night at Royal Birkdale. After opening The Open Championship with a disappointing 6-over 76, the possibility of missing the cut had become real enough for conversations with his wife to turn toward travel plans. Speaking after Friday’s second round, Cole revealed that discussions at the end of his opening day had already turned toward getting back home.

With only one round remaining to extend his week at The Open, the couple had begun looking at flight options out of the United Kingdom.

“Flights home is what I was talking about. We were looking at different flights home,” he said in the interview.

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That search had already gone further than a general idea of leaving the UK. As the interview continued, Cole revealed that those discussions had gone beyond simply talking about heading back to Florida.

“Tomorrow morning there’s a flight, yeah,” he stated.

The response prompted further questions about the route he had identified. Rather than referring to a general plan to leave Northern Ireland, Cole was talking about a specific option that would have taken him home less than a day later if his week had ended on Friday.

“Yeah, Manchester straight to Orlando, which I live in Jupiter, but I’d rather drive than connect,” he added. 

Cole had already narrowed down the route. Manchester would have been the departure point, Orlando the destination, followed by a drive back to Jupiter. The conversation included departure and arrival airports, as well as preferred travel options back to Florida.

Eric Cole’s Friday Turnaround Changed His Plans at Royal Birkdale

Those travel discussions followed a difficult opening round. Cole reached the turn at even par on Thursday before his scorecard changed on the back nine. A double bogey at the par-4 11th was followed by bogeys on the 13th, 15th, and 18th, turning an even-par round through nine holes into a 6-over 76.

Friday’s card looked considerably different. Cole’s three straight birdies on the front nine occurred on holes 4, 5, and 6 to move under par early. He added four more birdies on the back nine at the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. He closed out his round with five straight pars on holes 14 through 18.

The result was a 6-under 64, representing a 12-shot improvement from his opening round. The score stood as the low round of the tournament for much of the morning, before Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns each fired 8-under 62s later Friday to match the Royal Birkdale and major championship scoring record originally set by Branden Grace in 2017.

Less than 24 hours after looking up flights home with his wife, Cole’s plans for Saturday now involve another tee time at Royal Birkdale. The Manchester-to-Orlando route he had already identified remains unused, while the 38-year-old heads into the final 36 holes with an opportunity to build on the round that extended his stay at The Open.