Austin Eckroat ran away and hid from a crowded leaderboard at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship to claim his second victory on the PGA Tour. With a final-round 63, the 25-year-old reached a career low, reaching 24 under for the tournament and holding a four-shot lead on the final hole before winning by one over Carson Young and Justin Lower at El Cardonal Diamante.
Eckroat joins players like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Rory McIlroy as they have multiple PGA Tour victories this season. He entered the winner's circle for the first time at the Cognizant Classic last February and his most recent trophy haul includes invitations to the 2025 Masters and the 2025 PGA Championship.
“This is probably one of the best golf games I’ve ever played,” Eckroat said. “Right from the start – it was all about birdies and putts. Today it worked completely automatically. It was a good fight.”
Eckroat entered the final round one stroke behind the three co-leaders and immediately went to work in the penultimate group. Birdies on his opening two holes saw the former All-American move into the top three, but that was short-lived as his first mistake of the day came on the next hole.
Eckroat continued to keep pars off his scorecard as he shot 31 with four birdies on his next six holes to grab a share of the lead while Lower was at 20 under. Eckroat then took advantage of the drivable par-4 10th, while Lower, in the group behind, made the surprising decision to line up for par from the tee.
The momentum rested solely with Eckroat, while the birdies kept flying off his putter blade. Three more on his next four holes included nice mid-range connections on Nos. 12-13 to extend his lead to three while Lower, Young and the rest of the chasers remained stuck in neutral.
Although it seemed like he was going to make the final game stress-free, Eckroat gave his playing rivals a chance when he left his third shot at his feet on the par-5 18th hole. The leader's mistake led to his second miss and gave Young the opportunity to force a playoff with an eagle. When Young's shot from distance failed, Eckroat stepped into the winner's circle for the second time in his last 21 starts.
“It kind of validates the season I had,” Eckroat said. “This is a great way to top off and end the year. It was just really special to do this at an event where, as the title sponsor, I am an ambassador for their company. So it's just a really cool week.” Grade: A+
Here are the scores of the rest of the leaders on the World Wide Technology Championship 2024 leaderboard
4. Max Greyserman (-22): For Greyserman, there are always close calls. Entering Sunday one shot behind, the Duke product was simply outmatched by Eckroat's firepower in the final chorus. Greyserman recorded five birdies on his scorecard in his first ten holes, but his iron-fisted play failed to produce consistent scoring chances over the final eight holes, even leading to a bogey on No. 13. He now has three runner-up finishes and this top-five results in his last six tournaments. Grade: A
5. Joe Highsmith (-19): Highsmith continued to climb the FedEx Cup standings and nearly secured full-time eligibility the next year thanks to another top-notch performance. The left-hander, who was the last man to arrive in Cabo, made his second appearance this fall and earned his second top-10 finish in his last three tournaments. His par-5 score proved too much to overcome as Highsmith failed to make birdies on any of the four par-5s on Sunday. Grade: A-
T6. Nico Echavarria (-17): The Zozo Championship winner completed his first 60 holes at El Cardonal without a bogey before falling flat midway through his final round. After making consecutive birdies on Nos. 5-6, Echavarria dropped a pair on No. 7, effectively ending his chances of winning consecutive tournaments. Despite the flaws, Echavarria's performance was good enough to earn back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his PGA Tour career. Grade: B+
T14. Harris English (-15): With a duel against 70 to start his week, English was behind eight balls into the weekend, where he finally found his groove. With 12 birdies and an eagle in his final 36 holes, the four-time PGA Tour winner climbed into the top 20 and a spot in the Aon Next 10 to 52nd in the FedEx Cup. The performance should be enough to put English on the map at the first two signature events of 2025 at Pebble Beach and Riviera. Grade: B
T24. Lucas Glover (-13): Continuing the theme of his FedEx Cup defeat, Glover finished strong again with a final-round score of 65. It wasn't enough for his fourth top 15 finish in a row, but it was enough to move into the Aon Next 10 bubble in 62nd place in the race. The way he hits the golf ball should allow him to struggle over the next two weeks, where his problems with the putter should remain hidden compared to this week. Grade: C
