Austin Eckroat (PGA Tour) and Joaquin Niemann (LIV) both cruised to titles on their respective tours.
Eckroat won the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches for his first Tour victory. The win had been coming for some time as Eckroat, making his 50th career start, played well last season as a rookie.
The former Oklahoma State Cowboy carded all four rounds in the 60s at PGA National. His 17-under total beat Erik van Rooyen and Min Woo Lee by three strokes.
He won the tournament on the strength of some splendid iron play, ranking third in strokes gained approach for the week.
Eckroat has a full PING bag, including a G430 LST driver, Blueprint T irons and Glide Forged Pro wedges.
Driver: PING G430 LST (9 degrees @9.25)
Shaft: Project HZRDUS Smoke Green 70 6.5
3-Wood: PING G430 Max (15 degrees @14.75)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 X
Irons: Ping Blueprint S (3), Ping Blueprint T (4-PW)
Shaft: Project X 6.5
Wedges: Ping Glide Forged Pro (50, 54, 60 degrees)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Putter: Ping Redwood D66
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
It’s been a great past few months for Niemann, also a longtime PING player.
Niemann recently received an invite to the Masters on the back of his Australian Open victory and solid play in DP World Tour events. Although he plays on LIV, Niemann’s results in other events was the reason for the invitation.
The Chile native continued that good form at LIV Jeddah where he beat Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel by four strokes. Niemann only had two bogeys over 54 holes.
Niemann has stuck with PING since turning pro in 2018. He currently plays a G430 LST driver, Blueprint S irons and Prototype wedges.
Driver: PING G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design DI 6-X
3-Wood: PING G430 MAX (15 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design DI 8-X
5-Wood: PING G425 MAX (20.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design DI 8-X
Irons: PING Blueprint S Irons (5-PW)
Shaft: Project X 6.0
Wedges: PING Prototype Wedges (52 and 56 degrees)
Shaft: Project X 6.5
Putter: PING PLD Anser Custom Putter
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
PHDrunkards
2 months ago
Niemann:
His 6.5 in his wedges must be soft stepped a couple times to make them play softer to match the 6.0 in his irons, just to use the weight of the 6.5 for those short clubs
Mike
2 months ago
Good call! I thought it was odd to see a stiffer flex in the wedges than in the irons. Your explanation makes sense.