Austin Eckroat ran away and hid from a crowded leaderboard at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship to claim his second win on the PGA Tour. Tying a career-low mark with a 63 in the final round, the 25-year-old reached 24 under for the tournament and held a four-shot lead entering the final hole before to winning by one over Carson Young and Justin Lower at El Cardonal at Diamante.
Eckroat joins the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama and Rory McIlroy as players claiming multiple PGA Tour wins this season. Stepping into the winner's circle for the first time at the Cognizant Classic last February, his latest trophy raise comes with invitations into the 2025 Masters and 2025 PGA Championship.
"That's probably some of the best golf that I've ever played," Eckroat said. "Just from the start -- making birdies and putts were going in. It was automatic out there today. ... It's crazy, though; I only won by one shooting 9 under par today from one back, so obviously everyone was playing well. It was a good battle."
Entering the final round one stroke behind the three co-leaders, Eckroat got to work immediately in the penultimate group. Birdies on his two opening holes saw the former All-American join the three at the top, but it was short lived as his first blemish of the day arrived on the next hole.
Eckroat continued to keep pars off his scorecard as four birdies across his next six holes saw him turn in 31 and jump into a share of the lead with Lower at 20 under. Eckroat then took advantage of the drivable par-4 10th while Lower, in the group behind, made the head-scratching decision to lay up off the tee leading to par.
The momentum was Eckroat's and his alone as the birdies kept flying off his putter blade. Three more over his next four holes included nice midrange connections on Nos. 12-13 to push his advantage to three as Lower, Young and the rest of the chasing pack got stuck in neutral.
9-under in his last 13 holes 🤯
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 10, 2024
Austin Eckroat is all gas, no brakes @WWTChampionship. pic.twitter.com/G70YpT2T3X
Despite the appearance of a stress-free stroll down the last, Eckroat gave his playing competitors a chance when he left his third at his feet on the par-5 18th. Leading to his second dropped shot, the leader's mistake gave Young an opportunity to force a playoff with an eagle. When Young's effort from long distance failed to connect, Eckroat walked into the winner's circle for the second time in his last 21 starts.
"It kind of validates the season that I had," Eckroat said. "This is a great way to cap off the year and end the year. This was just really special to do it at an event where, the title sponsor, I am an ambassador of their company. So it just makes for a really cool week." Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship
4. Max Greyserman (-22): The close calls keep on coming for Greyserman. Entering Sunday one stroke off the pace, the Duke product was simply outmatched by Eckroat's firepower across the final refrain. Greyserman put five birdies on his scorecard in his opening 10 holes, but his iron play failed to set up consistent scoring chances across his final eight and even led to a bogey on No. 13. He now has three runner-up finishes and this top-five result in his last six tournaments. Grade: A
5. Joe Highsmith (-19): Highsmith kept climbing in the FedEx Cup standings and all but secured his full-time playing privileges next year thanks to another quality outing. Arriving in Cabo as the last man out, the left hander put himself in contention for the second time this fall and nabbed his second top-10 finish in his last three tournaments. His par-5 scoring proved to be too much to overcome as Highsmith failed to make birdie on any of the four on Sunday. Grade: A-
T6. Nico Echavarria (-17): The Zozo Championship winner went through his first 60 holes at El Cardonal without carding a bogey before falling flat in the middle of his final round. After posting consecutive birdies on No. 5-6, Echavarria dropped a pair on No. 7 and effectively ended his chance at winning consecutive tournaments. Despite the shortcomings, Echavarria's performance was good enough to capture back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time in his PGA Tour career. Grade: B+
T14. Harris English (-15): Dueling 70s to kick off his week put English behind the eight ball heading into the weekend where he ultimately found his groove. Carding 12 birdies and an eagle across his final 36 holes, the four-time PGA Tour winner climbed inside the top 20 and one spot in the Aon Next 10 to No. 52 in the FedEx Cup. The performance should be enough to put English's name in the field in the first two signatures events of 2025 at Pebble Beach and Riviera. Grade: B
T24. Lucas Glover (-13): Glover continued the theme of his FedEx Cup Fall by closing strong once again with a final-round 65. It was not enough to claim his fourth straight top-15 finish, but it was enough to move himself onto the bubble of the Aon Next 10 at No. 62 in the race. The way he is striking the golf ball should allow him to contend the next two weeks where his issues with the putter should be hidden relative to this week. Grade: C
