Camden native Cole Anderson’s bid to become just the fourth amateur to ever win on the Korn Ferry Tour went by the wayside on Sunday in the Live and Work in Maine Open at the Falmouth Country Club as he struggled to a one-over-par 72.
But the 21-year-old Florida State University redshirt sophomore, who entered Sunday’s final round tied for the lead with Texan Pierceson Coody, still managed to earn an impressive tie for third with a 14-under-par 270. Coody won the tournament with a 20-under-par 264.
It was Anderson’s first major pro tournament appearance. The amateurs who had previously won Korn Ferry Tournaments went on to play on the PGA Tour. Daniel Summerhays won a Korn Ferry Tournament in 2007 while Russell Henley and Harris English both won in 2011.
Coody, making just his third pro start after leading the University of Texas to the NCAA Division I golf title earlier this month, shot a five-under-par 66 on Sunday.
Former Louisiana State University golfer Jacob Bergeron finished second with a 15-under-par 269 after a closing-round 66. It was the 24-year-old’s best finish this season with his previous best being a tie for 23rd.
Anderson finished in a four-way tie for third with North Carolinian Will Gordon and Argentinians Fabian Gomez and Nelson Ledesma.
Anderson had shot a 15-under-par 198 after 54 holes. But Coody played the front nine in seven-under-par 28 on Sunday thanks to five birdies and an eagle-three at the par-five sixth hole while Anderson played it at even-par 35 with a bogey and a birdie.
Anderson rallied briefly on the back nine, taking advantage of Coody bogeys on 10 and 11 to close the gap but Anderson bogeyed the 15th hole and then his only double bogey of the tournament on the 16th.
He birdied 17 to return to 14-under-par and parred the final hole while playing with Coody in the final group, concluding the tournament with 19 birdies and five bogeys.
Anderson had finished tied for 40th among the 169 golfers at the NCAA Division I Golf Championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona at the end of May.
Anderson won two state Class A individual championships at Camden Hills High School in Rockport and shared a third title.
The 22-year-old Coody, the grandson of 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody, entered the tournament with an impressive resume that included being a three-time All-American at Texas, a member of the triumphant 2021 Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams, the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf rankings and being chosen No. 1 in the PGA Tour University Class of 2022.
Topsham’s Caleb Manuel had failed to mak
