[PHOTO: Hector Vivas]
You wouldn’t think the 6,814-metre El Cardonal at Diamante course would yield to anything but a bomber, but Austin Eckroat navigated it skilfully – if without overpowering length – to capture the World Wide Technology Championship for his second win of 2024.
Instead, Eckroat kept the ball in position then took advantage of it, particularly during his final-round, 11-birdie, two-bogey 63.
Despite ranking 60th in driving distance at just 263 metres per measured drive, Eckroat kept the ball in play (which wasn’t that difficult with the overly generous fairways). He hit 91 percent of his fairways for the week, missing just five of 56 with his 10.5-degree Ping G430 LST driver, the lowest-spinning version in the G430 family. Eckroat’s driver (which has a 45.25-inch Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 6.5 shaft) uses the adjustable hosel to bring the loft down to 8.5 degrees.
Eckroat’s iron game also was on point as he ranked eighth in greens in regulation with his Ping Blueprint T irons and Ping Glide Pro Forged wedges. Eckroat’s irons have Project X 6.5 shafts. Among the key shots with the clubs were a backed-up beauty of an approach on the par-4 13th that led to his ninth birdie in 13 holes.
Once on the greens, Eckroat cashed in, ranking fourth in putts per green in regulation with his Ping PLD Anser Milled putter. The blade has a black finish and measures 35 inches with 4 degrees of loft – an inch longer and a degree more loft than the putter he used to win the Cognizant Classic earlier this year.
And now he has one win more than he had then, too.
What Austin Eckroat had in the bag at the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Ping G430 LST (Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 6.5), 10.5 degrees
3-wood: Ping G430 Max, 15 degrees
Irons (3): Ping Blueprint S; (4-PW): Ping Blueprint T
Wedges: Ping Glide Pro Forged (50, 54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Ping PLD Anser Milled
