Austin Eckrot is another PGA Tour winner.
Eight months after winning the Cognizant Classic at PGA National, Eckrot shot a 9-under 63 to win the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico. He had 11 birdies in the final round, calling it “some of my best golf.” [he has] I've played it before. ”
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy started Sunday's final round trailing Justin Lower, Nico Echavarria and Carson Young by one stroke. But that small deficit phased Ekrot little by little. Instead, he made a flurry of birdies, nine of them in the first 12 holes. When he stood on the 13th tee, he held a three-stroke lead and looked destined for his second career victory on the PGA Tour.
Still, Eckrot, who finished with a total of 24 under par, had to sweat a little in the final minutes. He hit a bogey on the par-5 18th hole, narrowing the gap to Young in the following group to two.
Young then hit two great shots by the 18th and faced a long eagle putt, forcing a play off. But he failed on the low side, Victory was thus given to Ekrot.. Interestingly, Lauer, who played alongside Young on the final pair, made an Eagle three on the final hole and finished tied for second, one stroke behind. Young and Lower both shot 7-under 65s, an impressive final round score. Still, it wasn't enough in the end.
“I don't know; it was automatic today, I think it's fair to call it that,” Eckrot said later.
“It's crazy that we shot 9-under from one back today and only won one. Obviously everyone played well and it was a good battle.”
Eckrot will not compete in next week's Butterfield Bermuda Championship because he finished inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings. There is also no need to worry about his status or schedule for 2025. But now he has another victory.
“I think this kind of validates the season I've had and it's a great way to end the year,” Eckrot added.
“Well, it was really special to do it at an event where we have a title sponsor. I'm an ambassador for their company. It's been a cool week.”
He now has his sights set on 2025, a pivotal year in golf. The Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage Black on Long Island, and Eckrot hopes to be able to play on the team. There is no doubt that he has the potential to do so. After all, only a handful of players have won more than once this season, including Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama. So perhaps Eckrot will join Schaeffler's U.S. team next fall.
“There's a little bit of work that needs to be done to really get to the same level.” [as Scheffler and McIlroy]but it’s pretty special,” Eckrot said.
“As you say, we've had six people win twice this season, so that's a great accomplishment.”
Indeed, winning the Worldwide Technology Championship is a huge accomplishment. But in 2025, Eckroat still has a lot of work to do. Still, if they can continue to play as well as they did Sunday, they'll get more wins and maybe even a spot in the Ryder Cup.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
