Nico Echavarria birdied two of the last three holes on Sunday to record a No. 1 victory at the Zozo Championship in Chiba, Japan.
Echavarria, a 30-year-old Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas, finished 3-under-par-67 on Sunday and shot a tournament record 20-under 260 at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club. He surpassed Tiger Woods’ total of 261 set in 2019.
“It’s amazing to win the tournament that Tiger won,” said Echavarria. “This is my second win, so I just need 80 wins to catch him. I’m on my way, though.”
Echavarria, who also won the 2023 Puerto Rico Open, leads Max Greyserman (65 on Sunday) and Justin Thomas (66) by one stroke. Echavarria collected $1.53 million for winning the 78-player, no-departure tournament and is expected to move to No. 65 in the FedExCup standings after starting the week at No. 113.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “It’s been a good year for me, I didn’t have a high result. I’ve been consistent, I’ve learned a lot this year. To end the year like this, it’s amazing, especially to do it here. Japan in such an amazing country.”
Echavarria collected five birdies against two bogeys in his final round. He reached the par-5 18th in two strokes, pulled to within 3 feet on his next putt before winning the tournament on his final stroke.
Thomas, who joined Greyserman in cashing in for $748,000 to finish T2, recorded his fourth birdie of the day on the 18th hole to cap his bogey round. He just fell short of recording his 16th career PGA Tour title and first since winning the 2022 PGA Championship.
“Obviously I’m hurt and disappointed, but I played really well,” Thomas said. “I played well enough to win the tournament. I hit a lot of putts today that didn’t go in, that’s the difference.”
Greyserman, seeking his first PGA Tour title, carded four of his five birdies. Despite placing strongly, he finished as runner-up for the third time in his last five events.
“You know, I didn’t play when I needed to,” Grayserman said. “I mean, Nico went up there and hit a great second shot (on 18). He earned it.”
Rickie Fowler shot a bogey-free 64 to finish fourth at 17-under, while Kurt Kitayama (65) finished fifth at 15-under. Their finishes put four Americans in the top five.
–Field Level Media
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