For most golfers, the idea of playing in the Masters is at the very top of the bucket list – with the large majority of those who pick up a golf club never likely to get the chance to experience the feeling of hitting a shot on the hallowed turf of Augusta National.
The Masters holds a special place in the heart of most golf fans. For many, the true start of the golf season comes when the world’s best players head down Magnolia Lane and get ready for the first major of the year.
You would imagine that there is nothing quite like the feeling of receiving your first ever invite to the Masters.
However, Augusta National clearly has a knack of tripping some of the world’s greatest players up. Some of the most memorable moments in the event’s history have come when a player seems to be falling apart amidst the Georgia pines.
Why Austin Eckroat was ’embarrassed’ after making his Masters debut
And unfortunately for Austin Eckroat, his debut at the Masters did not go exactly to plan. The 26-year-old missed the cut after finishing the first two rounds on seven over par.
As it turns out however, Eckroat was quite content to not make the weekend. Speaking ahead of his defence of the Cognizant Classic this week, he explained how he was relieved when he did not sneak inside the cut line after the way he had played over Thursday and Friday.
“Last year with Augusta, my game was not in a good spot going into it, so I was very, I would say, not on edge, but I was anxious about playing Augusta, and I think I had some issues in the golf swing that I was managing that weren’t coming out whenever I was playing in other tournaments, but then I get there, all the emotions and everything, and I was a little exposed, honestly,” he said.
“As a first-timer, I think it’s honestly — I don’t know if it’s a little bit of a hazing thing, but you don’t know anything until you get there, and the yardage book sucks [laughing]. There’s so many things that you have to figure out through experience.
“I think going into this year having been there before, I hope there will be a comfort level. There will be some prior knowledge.
“I won this event last year and I didn’t have much time to go out there and do those practice rounds. So it kind of just happened quickly, and my game was just not ready for Augusta National, and the weather made it much more difficult on top of that.
“I really look forward to getting another chance at the beast. I honestly was a little — it was a funny week. I was embarrassed, honestly, with everything that went on and played poorly. It was a weird feeling. I had high expectations. I did not want to play Saturday. I was watching the cut line fall, and I was like, oh, gosh, I’m about to make this cut. Oh, my gosh, I’m going to shoot 80 tomorrow. So I’m really looking forward to having a good game going into Augusta National and getting another chance at it,” he added.
Eckroat joined Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in an exclusive club on the PGA Tour in 2024
While the Masters was not a positive experience for Eckroat, the 2024 season certainly was.
As well as winning the Cognizant Classic, he also triumphed at the World Wide Technology Championship in November.
That put Eckroat in quite the exclusive club when it came to winning multiple events on the PGA Tour in 2024. With Scottie Scheffler dominating, there were only a handful of players who won more than once – with Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy amongst them.
Obviously, Eckroat is still awaiting a win in a signature event. But having that experience of getting across the line – while also playing in the game’s biggest events – will stand him in good stead in the coming years.
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