Austin Eckroat, Min Woo Lee qualify for Arnold Palmer Invitational

Austin Eckroat didn’t just earn his first TOUR title Monday at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. The Oklahoma State alum reshaped his 2024 schedule, with the chance to build a path toward the game’s stratosphere.

Eckroat finished 17-under at PGA National for a three-stroke win over Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee, passing every test in a Monday finish in South Florida. All three have qualified for this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, a Signature Event, via the Aon Next 10 (Eckroat, van Rooyen) and Aon Swing 5 (Lee).

Bay Hill is just the beginning of Eckroat’s reimagined calendar.

After finishing No. 80 on the 2023 FedExCup Fall standings as a TOUR rookie, Eckroat entered the year without any Signature Events on his schedule. He comfortably maintained his exempt TOUR status, earning a spot in THE PLAYERS, but he refused to rest on those laurels.

As the Cognizant Classic champion, Eckroat will earn a spot in all remaining Signature Events in 2024, in addition to the Masters and PGA Championship. He’s also exempt on TOUR through 2026.

“I was in a situation last fall where I was trying to get into those (Signature) Events and made sure I maintained my PGA TOUR status,” Eckroat said in his winner’s press conference. “Obviously I think I missed all but one cut during that (FedExCup) Fall, and to be a winner not six months later, it's insane. It's a big jump.”

After the Arnold Palmer Invitational, this year’s Signature Event schedule is rounded out by the RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and Travelers Championship. Eckroat, 25, will have a tee time in all.

Eckroat finished second on the 2021 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn Korn Ferry Tour membership, and he earned his first TOUR card through the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Finals. It has been a steady progression for the native of Edmond, Oklahoma, whose skill was radiant during the Cognizant Classic's Monday finish, as he flushed shot after shot to avoid PGA National’s perils.

Eckroat’s sublime form Monday suggested that he was built for big moments. He’ll have several chances this season to keep proving it.

“I'm looking forward to this afternoon and evaluating my schedule and seeing what the rest of the season is going to hold,” Eckroat said Monday. “It's just a great opportunity upcoming with what the win does for me. The job security I gain from that, as well. There's a lot that this got for me.”

Lee made a spirited run at his first TOUR title Monday, at one point pulling within a stroke of Eckroat, but settled for a career-best tie for second at 14-under. It wasn’t without reward, as the effervescent Australian qualified for his first Signature Event of the season via the Aon Swing 5.

Lee, 25, had finished outside the top 20 in his first three TOUR starts of 2024, after earning his card via 2023 non-member FedExCup points. His game might be flourishing at just the right time – he’ll travel to Bay Hill for his third consecutive appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before heading to Northeast Florida for THE PLAYERS Championship, where he finished T6 last year in a breakout performance of sorts.

“It’s amazing,” Lee said of qualifying for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “I was thinking about it coming down the stretch. Obviously thinking about the win, but was a really proud moment today.

“My manager Brent signed me up for that yesterday and I saw it on the email, and I know he tried to do it on the low, but I did see it come through the email saying that I was signed up for it just in case I do … I knew that before last night that I needed to play like that.”

Lee played “like that” indeed. After completing his first seven holes of the final round Sunday in even-par before darkness fell, he was 4-under across 11 holes Monday.

The Aon Next 10 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational is comprised of the top 10 players on the 2024 FedExCup standings through the Cognizant Classic, not including the top 50 players from the 2023 FedExCup (already exempt). Current-year tournament winners are included in the Aon Next 10, but they are guaranteed spots in the season’s remaining Signature Events regardless of their Aon Next 10 or Aon Swing 5 position.

With a tie for second on the Cognizant Classic, van Rooyen moved inside the Aon Next 10 on the strength of a final-round 63 that vaulted him up 29 spots on the tournament leaderboard. Mark Hubbard, who finished T64 at the Cognizant Classic, was the first man out.

Here’s how the Aon Next 10 netted out for the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

The Aon Swing 5 for the Arnold Palmer Invitational is comprised of the top five FedExCup points earners across the Mexico Open at Vidanta and Cognizant Classic, not including the top 50 players from the 2023 FedExCup or the Aon Next 10 (already exempt).

Sami Valimaki finished atop the Aon Swing 5 on the strength of a solo second at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, while C.T. Pan, Stephan Jaeger and Justin Lower shared third place at Vidanta to earn their spots at Bay Hill.

Pan added a T28 at the Cognizant Classic to earn breathing room, while Jaeger and Lower each missed the cut at PGA National but hung onto their Arnold Palmer Invitational spots.

Andrew Novak fell just short despite back-to-back top-10 finishes in this swing (T8 at Mexico Open, T9 at Cognizant Classic). Novak needed a closing birdie on the par-5 18th on Monday to move inside the Aon Swing 5, but he failed to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker, ultimately finishing four points shy of Jaeger and Lower.

David Skinns also had a chance to move inside the Aon Swing 5 with a 17-foot birdie look on the 72nd hole at PGA National, but he could not convert. Skinns finished T4 at the Cognizant after missing the cut in Mexico.

(In the event that Jaeger and Lower shared fifth place on the Aon Swing 5, both players would have earned spots at Bay Hill.)

Here’s how the Aon Swing 5 netted out for the Arnold Palmer Invitational: