Austin Eckroat Wins the 2024 Cognizant Classic
Getting his first-ever PGA TOUR win this morning here at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Austin Eckroat has clinched an exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship, The Masters, and the PGA Championship along with being fully exempt through the 2026 PGA TOUR season. After a sudden midday Sunday storm brought about two and a half inches of rain in about as many hours, play resumed at around 4:00 pm, only to be stopped at sunset (6:23 pm) and restarted this morning. On Sunday, Eckroat made a late-in-the-day surge to reach -15 and eek ahead of Erik Van Rooyen, who had finished his round just before sunset at 14 under par.
Coming into the weekend, the odds were of course on World-Number-2 Rory McIlroy, with Cameron Young, Russel Henley, Eric Cole, Tom Kim, and Matt Fitzpatrick as other favorites. Min Woo Lee and Shane Lowry also were among some of the players given the best odds to win.
As with most tournaments, the leaderboard was constantly changing throughout the weekend. Coming into the final round it was Lowry and Skinns leading the pack, but in the end, they both came up just a little short, tying for 4th at 13-under along with Jake Knapp, Cameron Young, and K.H. Lee. Erik Van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee tied for 2nd at 14-under, and Eckroat just kept extending his lead, finishing with a three-stroke lead at 17-under par.
The 2023 winner of the Honda Classic, Chris Kirk, had a good start but fell behind as the weekend went on, finishing tied for 28th at 9-under. What will we see for the remainder of the season from Eckroat? Who knows, but getting your first TOUR win can definitely spark some serious momentum, as we've seen with Jake Knapp. Eckroat will certainly be one to watch going forward.
The Florida Swing continues this upcoming weekend in Orlando with the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then up to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach the following weekend for THE PLAYERS Championship, and finishing in Palm Harbor for the Valspar Championship.
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