For the fourth time this season, a player on the PGA Tour earned their first career victory.
Austin Eckroat won the Cognizant Classic on Monday morning by three shots after posting a 17-under total score.
He fired off a final round 4-under 67, as he recorded all four rounds in the 60s. Eckroat defeated Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee by three shots, who tied for second at 14-under.
“I’m really not sure how I feel yet. I haven’t really settled down,” Eckroat said after his win.
“But just super excited and been waiting for this moment my whole life, and I don’t really have a whole lot of words for it right now.”
A rain delay on Sunday pushed everything back, forcing the PGA Tour to finish play at PGA National on Monday.
It marked the first Monday finish since last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, when Justin Rose prevailed.
When Eckroat arrived at PGA National on Monday morning, he had 12 holes left to play. He started on the par-3 7th, a tough hole, but one that yielded an ace on Friday. Nick Dunlap made a hole-in-one during the second round.
Nevertheless, Eckroat’s momentum that he picked up on Sunday carried over into Monday. He finished Sunday with two birdies at the 4th and the 5th, putting himself in a prime position.
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy kept the steady pace to begin his Monday round, making four straight pars. He then made back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13, which gave him an even more comfortable lead.
“Those were definitely the biggest birdies,” he said.
“Missing the one on [the easy par-5] 10th, you’re feeling like you lost a shot. I wasn’t sure what the guys behind me were doing yet… Once I saw the leaderboard and made the birdies on 12 and 13, I knew I had a reasonable lead. Those are very important for getting a little cushion before getting to the Bear Trap.”
He dropped a shot at 14 but pushed that to the back of his mind as he entered the Bear Trap.
Arguably one of the toughest three-hole stretches in golf, the 25-year-old had ice in his veins as he safely got it on the green at 15.
Nerves of steel.
Coming off his first bogey of the final round and entering the first hole of the Bear Trap, Austin Eckroat finds the putting surface at No. 15. pic.twitter.com/gTYvQxnwru
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 4, 2024
Eckroat then hit a beautiful approach at the par-4 16th, which led to another birdie.
That got him back to 4-under on the day and 17-under for the tournament. He led by three shots at that point and would not look back. Eckroat finished with two comfortable pars to claim the title.
During his time at Oklahoma State, Eckroat was teammates with Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff, both PGA Tour winners. Now, these three guys all have victories under their belts, proving the Oklahoma State program is the best of the best.
Eckroat came close to winning in his rookie season last year but finished one stroke behind Jason Day at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
This time, Eckroat did not suffer the same fate, as he got over the hump in his 50th PGA Tour start.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
