An Old Friend Helps Austin Eckroat Go on a Hot Streak From Texas to Ohio

The rookie is in the hunt early at the Memorial, continuing a run that began with a hunt in his house.

DUBLIN, Ohio — Austin Eckroat is not a household name on the PGA Tour.

But, to be fair, unless your name is Rickie, Rory, Rahm, Jordan, Justin or Tiger, you’re likely not a household name.

For the 24-year-old from Oklahoma State, not being recognized seems not to bother him as he signed for a 3-under 69 on Thursday, squarely cementing the rookie in the middle of the leaderboard at the Memorial Tournament after the first round.

“Honestly, probably the worst that I ever hit it was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and just kind of came out here with a mindset, got nothing to lose,” Eckroat said. “And I played well.”

Eckroat found the rough right and left early in the week and then when he stood up on the first tee on Thursday found the fairway, which he said was a huge benefit to start the round.

Making the turn at 1 under, Eckroat would shoot 2-under 34 on the back nine that was highlighted with an eagle 3 on the par-5 15th when he converted a 5-footer from off the green.

While the 3 under mark is good enough for a tie for third with six others including Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Jordan Spieth, Eckroat said it wouldn’t be worth much on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he played last year to gain his PGA Tour card.

“You're playing a lot different conditions, softer, courses are easier,” Eckroat said. “Three unders typically aren't very good. And out here, today and last week, 3 under is a great score. It's just a different mentality on the golf course for sure.

Eckroat had a slow start to his PGA Tour career, either just making the cut and finishing near the back of the pack or missing the cut all together.

His first quality start came at the Sony Open with a T12 and then followed that up with six missed cuts before a fifth-place finish at Corales Puntacana, a, opposite-field event in the Dominican Republic at the end of March.

Two more missed cuts and two finishes far back and Eckroat decided to make a change before the AT&T Byron Nelson.

The change was putting a 10-year-old Ping Redwood putter he used his entire high school career back in the bag.

Eckroat said he went upstairs in his house, saw the putter laying there, picked it up and it looked good.

What followed was the best finish in his career on the PGA Tour, a T2 at the Nelson, then a T16 at Colonial in last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.

It’s those two weeks that got him a chance to play this week at Memorial.

“If I’m putting bad, I’ll always go grab it, and then just kept it in my hand,” Eckroat said. “This time I think I'll leave it in my hand for a while.”