Sunday was, in his words, a “weird day” for Austin Eckroat.
He was tied for the lead at the Cognizant Classic, just the second 54-hole lead of his two-year-old PGA Tour career. But he wasn’t in the final group as those spots were occupied by his fellow co-leaders, Shane Lowry and David Skinns.
Eckroat also arrived at PGA National just as play was suspended due to inclement weather in Palm Beach Gardens.
“Mother Nature, there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “It was kind of nice, I still had a full warm-up session, it’s not like I had to rush after the rain delay and go straight out to playing. I was able to still get a full warm-up session, which was nice.”
Play resumed after a three-hour-and-30-minute delay, but Eckroat completed only seven holes. Still, that stretch was enough for him to separate from the field and take a one-shot lead as he seeks his first PGA Tour title.
“I don’t really know if I’ve had a situation like this where I’ve had the lead over however many holes we’ve played, 63 holes. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this situation,” he said.
He’s also never been in position to take home $1.62 million for winning a golf tournament.
Not that it showed on Monday when Eckroat closed out his final round in style, making three more birdies to shoot a four-under 67 to win by three.
Here is a complete list of the 2024 Cognizant Classic payouts for all 68 players who made the cut. The total purse is $9 million.
How much every player made at the 2024 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches
1. Austin Eckroat $1.62 million
T2. Min Woo Lee $801,000
Erik Van Rooyen
T4. David Skinns $344,250
Jake Knapp
K.H. Lee
Cameron Young
Shane Lowry
T9. Keith Mitchell $210,535.72
Billy Horschel
Peter Malnati
Alex Noren
Andrew Novak
Kevin Yu
Martin Laird
T16. Tyson Alexander $137,250
Doug Ghim
Garrick Higgo
Ben Silverman
Victor Perez
T21. Byeong Hun An $87,750
Sam Ryder
Zach Johnson
Matt Fitzpatrick
Rory McIlroy
Bud Cauley
Nico Echavarria
T28. Chris Kirk $59,014.29
Beau Hossler
Chan Kim
Tom Hoge
Matthieu Pavon
C.T. Pan
Jacob Bridgeman
T35. Ryan Fox $43,875
Lucas Glover
Chris Gotterup
Chesson Hadley
Jimmy Stanger
Chad Ramey
T41. Corey Conners $32,850
Joseph Bramlett
Maverick McNealy
David Lipsky
Rickie Fowler
Russell Henley
T47. Davis Thompson $23,880
Troy Merritt
Vincent Norrman
Alexander Bjork
Parker Coody
Max Greyserman
T53. Jorge Campillo $21,390
Mac Meissner
Nick Dunlap
T56. Adam Schenk $20,700
Greyson Sigg
Carson Young
Rico Hoey
T60. Taylor Montgomery $20,160
Robert MacIntyre
T62. Davis Riley $19,800
Tom Kim
T64. Mark Hubbard $19,440
Justin Rose
66. J.T. Poston $19,170
T67. S.H. Kim $18,900
Camilo Villegas
