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In Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Austin Eckroat secured his first career victory on the PGA Tour at the Cognizant Classic. The American triumphed with a score of 267 (65 67 68 67, -17), edging out Australian Min Woo Lee (67 70 66 67) and South African Erik Van Rooyen (66 71 70 63) by three strokes, both finishing tied for second at 270 (-14).
Austin Eckroat, results
A professional since 2021, Eckroat had previously finished as a runner-up at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson and placed tenth at the US Open in the same year. In his 50th tournament on the circuit, he finally clinched victory.
His remarkable performance earned him $1,620,000 out of a total prize pool of $9,000,000. The tournament concluded today due to adverse weather conditions. Playing at the PGA National Resort (The Champion, par 71), the 25-year-old from Edmond, Oklahoma, sealed his victory with a final round of 67 (-4), highlighted by five birdies and marred by a single bogey.
Americans Jake Knapp, a former nightclub bouncer turned golfer who recently won the Mexico Open, and Cameron Young tied for fourth place with a score of 271 (-13). The same score was achieved by Englishman David Skinns and South Korean Lee Kyoung-hoon .
However, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and British player Matt Fitzpatrick, ranked second and ninth in the world respectively, could only manage a joint 21st place with a score of 274 (-10). Francesco Molinari, after a challenging performance, missed the cut again with a score of 142 (par).
In 2021, Austin Eckroat made the transition to professional golf. Although he initially earned limited status for the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season through qualifying school, his early performances were challenging, as he missed the cut in his first two events of the season.
However, a turning point came at the AdventHealth Championship in May, where he tied for 23rd, earning him entry into subsequent events. This marked the beginning of an impressive streak, with Eckroat securing nine top-25 finishes in the final eleven regular-season events.
Notably, he clinched a runner-up finish at the Memorial Health Championship. His strong performance throughout the season, resulting in a 34th place finish on the regular-season points list, granted him access to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
It was there that he secured his PGA Tour card with a second-place finish at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Eckroat continued to showcase his talent in May 2023, finishing as the runner-up at the AT&T Byron Nelson, just one shot behind Jason Day.
The following month, during the final round of the 2023 US Open, he tied the 9-hole record with an impressive score of 29. Ultimately, he finished tied for 10th in the championship. In March 2024, Eckroat achieved a significant milestone in his career by winning his first PGA Tour event at the Cognizant Classic. He emerged victorious with a three-shot lead over Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee.