Weekend: Echavarría Earns A Masters Trip
Weekend: Echavarría Earns A Masters Trip
ZOZO winner holds off Thomas. Plus, Governor Hochul and Ryder prices, Schauffele brings the Claret Jug to Japan, a Ryder Cup may be coming to Spain, and the latest Augusta National flyover.
Nico Echavarría captured the ZOZO Championship for his second PGA Tour win and first trip to The Masters. The 30-year-old Columbian held off Justin Thomas and Max Greyserman to win the sixth and possibly final playing of an event held since 2019.
Echavarría carried the 54-hole lead into Sunday, where he birdied the 18th hole for a 67 and stout 260 four-day score, his career-low by seven strokes. The mark also set a new tournament record previously held by Tiger Woods (261).
“It's surreal,” the former Arkansas collegiate golfer said. “This moment is very special. It's been a good year for me, I just haven't had that top result. I've been very consistent, I've learned a lot this year. To finish the year this way is, it's incredible, especially doing it here in Japan in such an amazing country.”
Echavarría had never played the ZOZO and recorded only one top-10 finish in 2024 until this week. He now heads to the Masters and PGA Championship at Quail Hollow thanks to his victory over a field featuring six of the world’s top 30.
“I'm very excited to go for the first time to Augusta, I've never been,” said Echavarría. “I was waiting to win myself that trip before going and we've done that, so we're going to be very happy to play the Masters in a couple months.”
Echavarría’s major championship experience has been relegated to a PGA and two U.S. Opens, with one cut made at Pinehurst this year. He competed at three Latin America Amateurs and finished T8 in 2017, his best effort in the event put on annually by Augusta National, R&A and the USGA.
Since his amateur career, Echavarría earned a Korn Ferry Tour card in 2017 before losing it after the 2020-21 season. He played better in 2022 upon graduating from Q-School, then graduated to the PGA Tour in 2023 and captured the Puerto Rico Open that year.
Also of note: Rickie Fowler (4th/-17) recorded his first top-10 since winning the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The 2021 ZOZO and Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama finished T46.
As per tournament tradition, Echavarría wins the world’s largest deluxe Dyson air purifier along with $1.53 million.
The event at Narashino Country Club appeared to be the final ZOZO Championship based on questions to players. Last week’s playing completed a six-event contract that started with the inaugural won by Woods in 2019. No announcement of a renewal has been made as of this time.
If this is the end of the PGA Tour’s first sanctioned Japan tournament, runner-up Thomas spoke highly of the experience.
“It's not only an opportunity for us to play different golf courses in front of a different, you know, setting, and grow our brand and kind of have the opportunity to grow the game of golf,” Thomas said. “But it's an opportunity for us to travel and see some great places and compete in a completely different part of the world, so it's always a treat.”
Elsewhere…
Online sleuths are trying to figure out what the “unexpected guest” was spotted in Collin Morikawa’s pants at last week’s ZOZO. Be nice, it could be a common medical condition. 😬
Hochul’s History With The Ryder Cup Price Setters
In last week’s News & Notes you’ll recall I noted how much has changed since the Ryder Cup was awarded to Bethpage State Park. Given the uproar surrounding the $750 ticket pricing for an event at a state park, a.k.a. the “People’s Course”, a seemingly natural opening had been teed up for current Governor Kathy Hochul to ask the PGA of America to justify pricing out so many of her constituents.
So far, Hochul has refused to get involved.
In a statement to the New York Post after local politicians expressed outrage at the $750 ticket, the Governor’s office said, “The PGA of America is a private organization, and the state does not have the ability to change ticket prices for its tournament.”
As reported on October 17th, the PGA of America’s price structure was developed by Delaware North, a New York sports hospitality company. Since that revelation a subsequent report on Golf.com revealed record-high prices to volunteer.
A Quadrilateral subscriber noted Governor Hochul’s past ties to Delaware North through her husband’s former role at the Buffalo-based hospitality and gaming giant. William Hochul worked as executive vice president and chief counsel for Delaware North before departing from the company in August, 2023. The couple’s tax returns show a sizable portion of the Hochul’s income coming from Delaware North before William Hochul’s departure. He is now with Davis Polk, specializing in white-collar criminal defense work.
Given the ties between the Hochuls and Delaware North, I asked for further explanation from the Governor’s office. The Governor’s Associate Communications Director replied to The Quadrilateral’s second request for comment by sharing the same statement given to the New York Post. Furthermore, the Governor’s office pointed out that the contract to bring the Ryder Cup to Bethpage was approved before Kathy Hochul was elected to statewide office. (She was selected to run with disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo for the 2014 New York gubernatorial election and served as lieutenant governor for Cuomo until his resignation in 2021.)
When previous questions surfaced surrounding state projects and Delaware North, the hospitality company insisted that William Hochul had been “recused from all elements of our work in New York.”
The Governor’s office also said the First Gentleman had no involvement in any state contracting related to Delaware North’s Ryder Cup work. Since his departure from the company, the Governor has lifted a self-imposed recusal policy regarding decisions and negotiations connected to Delaware North. Perhaps she’ll take another look at the exorbitant Ryder Cup prices on behalf of her constituents?
Schauffele Brings The Claret Jug To Japan
The Champion Golfer of the World had yet to show the coveted sterling to his family when speaking at the ZOZO Championship.
“There's a chance that my mom showed her parents,” he said on Tuesday regarding the reason for bringing the coveted hardware to the country where his Taiwanese mother grew up.
A few days later, the PGA Tour posted the charming photo of Xander Schauffele with grandparents Eisei Chen and Namiko Azuma.