ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — After making his first cut on the PGA Tour as a professional last week in Houston, Cole Hammer is taking advantage of a sponsor’s exemption into the RSM Classic, grabbing the first-round lead by carding nine birdies for a career-low 8-under 64 at the Plantation Course at Sea Island Resort.
“I almost blacked out there for a little bit,” Hammer said. “It went by in a heartbeat, but at the same time was a long day.”
And an unseasonably cold one at that. The temperature at the Seaside Course barely broke 50 degrees on Thursday. Having previously played in the Jones Cup, an amateur tournament held at nearby Ocean Forest, Hammer had experienced the wind whipping off the water in these parts and bundled up in four layers and a beanie.
“When I played the Jones Cup, it was 35 degrees, blowing 30 and raining so I told myself I’ll never play in weather like that again,” he said. “I was ready for it.”
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What Hammer wasn’t ready for was six consecutive missed cuts to start his pro career, an unexpectedly sharp learning curve after a decorated amateur career topped off by leading University of Texas to a national championship in June.
“It was a really dark period and I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I just was putting so much pressure on myself early in the tournament that I’d get behind the 8-Ball.”
After missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship in August, he did a deep dive on his swing with instructor Bruce Davidson and is starting to see the fruits of their labor. Ten days ago, he narrowly missed securing guaranteed starts at the final stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School — he’ll have conditional status — and then opened with a 74 at the Cadence Houston Open.
“I just had about zero patience. As soon as I made a bogey, I felt like the world was ending,” he explained. “In Houston I just relaxed, took a deep breath and I made some bogeys. I basically just told myself that I can come back and nobody plays perfect golf and that’s what I was trying to do.”
Hammer shot 65 in the second round to make the cut and finished T-27. It gave him a jolt of confidence, especially when he found out after his final round that he had secured a sponsor invite into the RSM Classic.
“I was batting zero on the PGA Tour. I needed to get that monkey off my back,” he said. “To do that in my hometown event in Houston was huge for me.”
Hammer noted that he didn’t sleep well Wednesday night and started his round with low expectations.
“I hit my best drive of the day on No. 1, my 10th hole, and that swing gave me some confidence going into the back nine. I hit a wedge like two feet and knocked that in,” Hammer said.
That was his fifth birdie of the day and before long he looked up and spied his last name atop the leaderboard.
“I saw some cameras show up, I knew I was doing something right,” he said.
Hammer’s opening-round 64 was a stroke better than rookie Ben Griffin, who also played the Plantation Course. England’s Callum Tarren, who said the weather reminded him a little too much of home, and Beau Hossler tied for the low round of the day at the Seaside Course with 6-under 64s.
Hossler, a 27-year-old Texas grad who is still seeking his first victory on Tour, said he could relate to Hammer’s slow start in the pro ranks and expects him to turn the corner — perhaps even this week.
“He’s probably struggled a little bit since he’s been a pro, but tell you what, I don’t care what level you’re playing at, it’s ups and downs. I’ve had it in my career, every player out here’s had it,” Hossler said. “I think there’s a learning curve and once he gets comfortable at this level, just like I did, I think you start to say I can compete with these guys. He certainly has the ability and the competitive nature to do that. It’s just a matter of him getting experience, getting comfortable, getting confident and then frankly just playing well and popping off at the right time.”