Austin Eckroat

ELIGIBILITY: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024.]

Eckroat's passion for golf developed at a young age. He started playing golf at age five. His parents allowed their son to play and hone his skills through years of practice and participation in numerous junior Tournaments.
As a junior golfer, Eckroat won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and was the medalist at the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur. He lost in the quarterfinals to future teammate Matthew Wolff.
Eckroat always wanted to be an Oklahoma State Cowboy. When he was growing up, he wore Swinging Pete logos to every tournament and had Oklahoma State football posters on his bedroom walls.
"He always wanted to go to Oklahoma State because that was the only school he knew," Austin's father, Steve Eckroat, told Golf Channel. "As he got older, he realized that you have to be really good to play there, so it just worked out that he kept getting better and better." One of his favorite memories as a golf fan was seeing Tiger Woods win the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma; he was 8 years old at the time.
Eckroat and his wife, Sally, have known each other since they were toddlers. Austin and Sally Merrill had the same babysitters when they were toddlers in Edmond, Oklahoma. Sally told a reporter that the first time Eckroat said he liked her was in recess in Kindergarten. The two remained close throughout grade school, even when Merrill attended a different school, and her family moved to Oklahoma City. They eventually sparked their romantic interests through social media and began dating in 2019 while Eckroat was playing golf at Oklahoma State. The two announced their engagement in 2021 and married in November 2022.
Eckroat enjoyed a fine junior career, which landed him plenty of Division I college offers (Oklahoma, Texas A&M, SMU) but he picked Oklahoma State. Made the Round of 16 in the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, then claimed medalist honors the following year at the U.S. Junior Amateur before losing in the quarterfinals to future Oklahoma State teammate Matthew Wolff. Was runner-up at the 2017 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Finished T-8th in the individual NCAA Championships for 2019. His Oklahoma State team won the stroke play portion but lost in the semis to Texas. A year earlier, he helped OSU win the NCAA title at its home course, Karsten Creek.
Eckroat got into the 2019 U.S. Open as he advanced through sectional qualifying. He posted a 65 at Northwood Country Club and a 72 at Bent Tree Country Club to find his way into a three-man playoff with Cody Gribble and Charlie Danielson. He delivered with a birdie to grab one of the final two qualifying spots. Shot 72-75 at Pebble to miss the cut.
Eckroat attended Oklahoma State University from 2017 to 2021. He was a four-time All-American. In May of 2021 played in the Walker Cup at Seminole. Shortly after he graduated and turned professional, he finished 3rd in the inaugural PGA Tour University Class of 2021, getting him on the Korn Ferry Tour. In his first Korn Ferry Tour, he finished 7th at the BMW Charity Pro-am.
2022 Notes: Played in 16 Korn Ferry Tour events, making 12 cuts and having three top-ten finishes. His best finish was 2nd at the Memorial Health Champions and Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Earned a PGA Tour card for 2023 by finishing 5th in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
2023 Notes: Played in 32 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with four top-ten finishes. Was 74th in the FedExCup, his best finish was T-2nd at the AT&T Byron Nelson a shot back of winner Jason Day.
2024 Notes: Held a share of the lead after the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii and went on to finish T-42nd. Won the Cognizant Classic, earning his first PGA Tour title in his 50th career start at the age of 25 years, 1 month, 21 days. Became the fourth first-time winner of the season and the second PGA Tour University alum to win on the PGA Tour (Ludvig Aberg/2023 RSM Classic).