There were many contenders for victory this Sunday at the World Wide Technology Championship in Los Cabos, Mexico. In favourable playing conditions, with hardly any wind, they all knew a very low score would be needed to win. So they turned the final round of the penultimate tournament of the season on the PGA Tour into a race to see who could make the most birdies at El Cardonal at Diamante, the course designed by Tiger Woods that was hosting the tournament for the second time. A final sprint in which no one could stop American Austin Eckroat (-24).
The golfer from Edmond, Oklahoma, a professional since 2019, was able to put the finishing touch to his second full season on the circuit by closing his participation in the Mexican event with a true recital. No less than eleven birdies that made his two bogeys of the day anecdotal and allowed him to overcome the one-stroke disadvantage he started with before playing the last 18 holes to sign the second victory of his career, both in this unforgettable 2024 for him. He had won in March at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. And now, he confirms his upward trend on the tour.
The moment Austin Eckroat became a two-time TOUR winner 👏 pic.twitter.com/iOGDD9zhKb
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 10, 2024
“The second win solidifies that you can win on the PGA Tour. You can’t say it was luck anymore, I’ve done it twice, it’s just great,” he said after his recital. The 25-year-old golfer was already marking a tremendous eight under par in his first 12 holes of the final round. And although the final scoreboard says he ended up winning by just one stroke over Justin Lower (-24) and Carson Young (-23), and by two over Max Greyserman (-22), the truth is that his victory was never in danger, teeing off on the 18th with a four-stroke lead over Lower and three over Young.
He could afford the luxury of committing his second and last bogey of the day on the par five that closes the course and see that the attempts of his two main pursuers, who closed their respective rounds with eagle and birdie, came to nothing. “It was tight until the end,” he said. “But today I was flawless, I didn’t miss. It was hard to win, so I was lucky that everything went my way,” he insisted. Five years ago, Eckroat won the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Mexico in his second year at Oklahoma State. Now he lifts a trophy again in a country that will be unforgettable in his career.
10-under thru 17 and leader by 3.
Austin Eckroat heads to the 18th tee eyeing his second TOUR victory @WWTChampionship! pic.twitter.com/Htws5szCfq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 10, 2024
Austin‘s first great memory in golf, when he was just eight years old, was watching Tiger Woods win the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Now, he enjoys having achieved a title on a course designed by the Tiger. “Winning at a place built by him is great. It’s incredible, he’s my idol, no doubt.” A triumph in which his improvement with the putter has been decisive. He started the week ranked 132nd in strokes gained putting and leaves Los Cabos as the fourth best in putts on greens in regulation, matching with 63 strokes the lowest round of his career.
Eckroat joins Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele (world numbers 1 and 2), Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Nick Dunlap, and Robert MacIntyre as multiple winners on the PGA Tour this season. He takes home a prize of $1,296,000 and, accompanied by his wife, Sally, to whom he had promised to buy a pergola for the garden if he managed to finish in the top 10 this week (“I guess we’ll have a new pergola,” he said with a laugh), he begins to dream big with his next three goals: being part of the US Ryder team, playing the TOUR Championship… and winning a major. Ambitious challenges, although with eleven birdies on Sunday, nothing is impossible.
Austin Eckroat … Big cat guy 🐱
Behind the scenes with Austin's wife Sally after the winning putt Sunday @WWTChampionship. pic.twitter.com/vMaqrYfuF4
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 11, 2024
It was also an important week in Los Cabos for Joe Highsmith (-19) and Daniel Berger (-14), who arrived at El Cardonal outside the top 125 of the FedEx Fall and return to the United States within the positions that allow them to retain full playing rights for 2025, with two tournaments ahead to confirm it. A problem that does not affect Eckroat, who finished in the top 50 (45th place) of the circuit’s overall standings last August, among those chosen with access to next year’s designated events. His card is secured for 2025 and 2026.
