Nico Echavarria set a new tournament scoring record as he logged a one-stroke victory at the PGA Tour’s Zozo Championship this week.
The 30-year-old Colombian finished the event on -20 after 260 total strokes, the lowest number in any of the six editions so far and one better than Tiger Woods‘ 19-under 261 at the inaugural running in 2019.
Patrick Cantlay won on 23-under back in 2020, but that was on a par-72 layout in the US during the only year the Zozo was not played at Narashino Country Club, due to Covid.
In 2024, Echavarria went 64-64-65 through the opening three days to open up a two-stroke advantage at the par-70 course and put himself within touching distance of a second PGA Tour crown. His first was at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open.
And on Sunday, he held off the challenge of Justin Thomas and Max Greyserman – who he had partnered to a T4th result at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans earlier in the year – via a three-under 67.
A significant factor in Echavarria’s success was his ability to make birdie on the par-3 holes during the final round. Out of the four available, he walked off with a two in three of them. However, his wining moment arrived on a par-5, moments after he had made a bogey six on the 14th.
Main challenger, Greyserman had failed with his outside chance to reach 20-under on the 18th, and Thomas duly leaped into a tie for second courtesy of a 72nd-hole birdie. Echavarria knew a birdie of his own would be enough to get the job done, and that’s exactly what happened from three feet.
Reacting to his success, the 30-year-old said: “I was very nervous starting, but I managed it well. I made a lot of key putts out there. I only had one bad swing all day. Other than that I played a lot of good golf, so I’m happy to finish the way I did.
“I’m just super excited. It’s been a lot of work, it’s been a lot of rough weeks, but moments like this are the ones that make everything better.
“It was very close all day, it was fun. (Thomas and Greyserman) got off to a hot start and it was very level during the last, I don’t know, 13 holes or 10 holes. Max played great. Justin has been playing incredible, he hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. But overall, it was special to finish birdie-par-birdie and take this home.
“It’s the second win on the PGA Tour, not a lot…
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