Golfbet Recap: Austin Eckroat fires Sunday 63 to take World Wide Technology Championship title for second win of 2024

It’s never a bad thing to be able to pull off a Sunday 63.

That’s exactly what Austin Eckroat did in Los Cabos, Mexico, to win the World Wide Technology Championship at El Cardonal at Diamante – capturing the second victory of his young PGA TOUR career in the process.

Readers of the Prop Farm will recall that Carson Young was among my four pre-tournament outright selections south of the border, but Eckroat’s 11-birdie performance in the final round pushed him one shot clear of both Young and Justin Lower.

Young was one of three players sharing the 54-hole lead, along with Lower and recent ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP winner Nico Echavarria. Lower and Echavarria teed off at +450 according to oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook, while Eckroat was listed at +700 among a T4 group one shot back.

Round-by-round odds for Austin Eckroat to win World Wide Technology (via BetMGM)

• Pre-tournament: +4500
• After Round 1 (T4, trailed by 1): +1400
• After Round 2 (T5, trailed by 3): +1600
• After Round 3 (T4, trailed by 1): +700

The 25-year-old had it going early and often on Sunday with five birdies in his first six holes. Lower was matching Eckroat shot for shot on the front side, however, and they were tied after nine holes.

Making the turn for home, Eckroat remained the favorite at +170. Lower was at +190. Greyserman, the pre-tournament favorite who had three runner-up results in his last five starts, was now the third choice at +300 and Young was +1000 to get his first-ever TOUR win.

This was the beginning of the end for the chasers, as Eckroat birdied his first three holes on the inward nine. He added a birdie on No. 14 to build a massive, four-shot cushion heading to the 15th tee and was -1200 to win the tournament. It really looked like were going to get quite the horserace down the stretch between the four combatants, but it never materialized as Eckroat separated himself from the pack and nearly squeezed out every ounce of drama from the closing act.

Results for outright picks from Golfbet Experts

• Will Gray: Harris English (+2800) T14
• Ben Everill: Matt Kuchar (+2800) T30
• Chris Breece: Keith Mitchell (+3300) MC
• Matt DelVecchio: Ben Griffin (+2500) T24
• Mike Glasscott: Harris English (+2800) T14

It wasn’t until the 72nd hole of the championship that it looked like Eckroat might flinch. Eckroat tried to reach the par-5 green in two but flared his approach wide right. It took him four shots from there to get up and down and ended up making a bogey, leaving the door slightly open for Young, who was now two shots behind at 22-under.

One group back, Young did reach the green in two but his eagle bid from roughly 30 feet, which would have forced a playoff, slid by the right side of the hole. It was now confirmed that the win belonged to Eckroat. While much of 2024 has been dominated by Scottie Scheffler, Eckroat becomes the seventh player to win multiple times this year.

While many players entered this week’s event sweating the top-125 bubble and thinking about status for next year, Eckroat was already set coming in: He’s 45th in the FedExCup standings. It goes to show that sometimes, when you are relaxed and don’t have the added pressure to perform, you end up playing your best.

In my pre-tournament handicap, I wanted players this week who were very efficient off the tee, excellent on approach, made a lot of birdies, could hole some putts, and scramble around the greens. Eckroat did all of that beautifully. He ranked 29th in the field for the week for Driving Accuracy, was eighth in Greens in Regulation, was fourth for Putts per GIR, first in Birdies, and was 13th in the field for Scrambling. Pretty tough to find many holes in that performance. It’s also pretty tough to beat a Sunday 63.

Results from Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider

• Cameron Champ to win (+10000) MC
• Matt Kuchar Top 5 finish (+550) T30
• Tom Hoge Top 10 finish (+350) T45
• Wesley Bryan Top 20 finish (+350) T6
• Emilio Gonzalez Top 40 finish (+220) DQ
• Keith Mitchell Top 10 finish (+330) MC
• Patton Kizzire Top 20 finish (+240) MC
• Doug Ghim Top 20 finish (+100) T20
• Rico Hoey, Tom Hoge, Patrick Rodgers all Make Cut (+120) T45/T45/T24
• Zach Bauchou Top 40 finish (+140) T60
• Jacob Bridgeman Top 20 finish (+200) T14
• Trey Mullinax Top 40 finish (+170) MC
• Sam Ryder Top 40 finish (+150) T30
• Vince Whaley Top 20 finish (+275) T55
• Tom Whitney Top 40 finish (+230) T42
• Carl Yuan Top 40 finish (+300) MC

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