Eckroat closes with 63 to secure second PGA Tour victory of 2024
Austin Eckroat made 11 birdies Sunday at the World Wide Technology Championship, calling it the best golf he’s ever played. It was only barely enough to win, but winning on the PGA TOUR for the second time this season means something special.
“I think that second win kind of solidifies that you can win on the PGA TOUR,” Eckroat said. “You can’t just say it was luck this time; I’ve done it twice. Pretty cool.”
Eckroat, who won the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in March, started Sunday one shot back of the lead in Los Cabos, Mexico. He promptly went 8-under through his first 12 holes, en route to a closing 9-under 63 at El Cardonal at Diamante and a 24-under winning total. Justin Lower and Carson Young finished one stroke back. Lower shot 16-under on the weekend and still fell short by one.
“It was tight until the end,” Eckroat said. “And I was lights-out today; I couldn’t miss. For it to still be tight, it was tough to win out there, so I was very fortunate for it to go my way.”
Five years ago, Eckroat won the Querencia Cabo Collegiate as a sophomore at Oklahoma State. That, he said Sunday, was his last victory before winning at PGA National earlier in 2024.
His win at El Cardonal at Diamante was extra special with it being on a golf course designed by Tiger Woods – the man who provided Eckroat with his first big golf memory. Eckroat remembers watching Woods win the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills at just 8 years old.
“To win at a place that he built, that’s just pretty cool,” Eckroat said. “It’s awesome. He’s my idol, for sure.”
Eckroat went on a Tiger-like run through Sunday to capture the trophy.
“I remember making par on (No. 7), might have been the first par,” Eckroat said. “I went to my caddie and said, ‘Pars are overrated.’ Then the trend kept the same for the rest of the round.”
“It was automatic out there today, I guess is how you could call it,” he said.
Crazy enough, this was Eckroat’s first win with a different putter than what he normally bags in almost 15 years.
“This is my first win since I was 13 years old with a different putter, which is kind of crazy,” Eckroat said. “I’ve used the same Ping putter. I switch away from it, but every time I’ve won has been with that putter.”
Eckroat joins the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele (world Nos. 1 and 2), Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Nick Dunlap and Robert MacIntyre as multi-time winners on the PGA TOUR this season.
Entering that esteemed company has Eckroat thinking about what’s to come next in his career. He said his three main goals are to make the U.S. Ryder Cup Team, qualify for the TOUR Championship, and the “biggest next step” would be to win a major championship.
Eckroat was joined by his wife Sally in Cabo – and she’s become a mainstay on TOUR with him. It’s a lonely lifestyle otherwise, Eckroat admitted, so to share these big moments makes them extra special. With a laugh, he said the couple agreed if he finished in the top 10 this week, they would get a pergola for their new home’s backyard.
“So, I guess we’re getting a pergola in our backyard,” Eckroat laughed. “(Sally has) been here for both my wins now and she’s been with me for several missed cuts as well, so she’s there through the thick and thin. I love her so much and I’m really happy to share these moments with her.”
And if Eckroat keeps playing the way he did Sunday – the best kind of golf – there should be even more special moments to come.