Tour rookie Eric Cole leads PGA Championship at Oak Hill.

PGA Championship: Tour rookie Eric Cole takes Oak Hill lead.

Cole and 29 others will finish their first round Friday morning and start the second that afternoon.

After topping a major championship leaderboard, Cole said, "It's nice, I like it a lot." "You play to win." I hope my name is there more regularly.

Cole started his Tour rookie season well. He has four top-25 results, including a T23 in the in&T Byron Nelson last week.

He's missed nine cuts, including four straight to start the season, but he's had four top-25 finishes, including a T23 at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week.

Cole finished T5 in the Mexico Open and almost won the Honda Classic.

Cole forced a playoff with Chris Kirk at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but he lost on the first hole. Cole finished 14-under.

Kirk won after eight years. Cole's roughly $1 million payout for being runner-up was more than quadruple his previous 14 PGA Tour outings combined.

Cole was giving lessons in Florida five years earlier, attempting to make it as a golfer.