Nico Echavarria shot a final-round 67 to reach 20-under and win the Zozo Championship by one shot. His 260 total set a new tournament 72-hole low score (previous: 261/Tiger Woods/2019).
“It’s surreal. 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,” said Echavarria.
“To finish the year this way is, it’s incredible, especially doing it here in Japan in such an amazing country.
“It was very close all day, it was fun. They got off to a hot start and it was very level during the last, I don’t know, 13 holes or 10 holes. Max played great. Justin has been playing incredible, he hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. But overall it was special to finish birdie-par-birdie and take this home.”
This second PGA Tour victory comes in the Colombian’s 58th start at the age of 30 and he has now won both times he held the 54-hole lead (2023 Puerto Rico).
Justin Thomas carded a bogey-free 66 to finish second at 19-under alongside fellow American Max Greyserman who shot a bogey-free 65. Greyserman has now finished runner-up three times in 26 starts on Tour.
“It’s a mixture of obviously bummed and disappointed, but I played
so well. I played plenty well enough to win the tournament. Hit so many good putts today that just didn’t go in, that’s the difference. I needed some of those ones that burned the edge to fall,” said Thomas.
“But no, I mean, I gave myself a chance. I would have really loved that putt on 17 to fall just to be tied for the lead. I felt like being one back of two people coming into 18 is a tough task to accomplish. I did a lot of the things really well. I made one bogey in 72 holes and had a great chance, just wasn’t my week.”
Rickie Fowler closed with a bogey-free 64 to finish fourth t 17-under, his first top-10 since his win at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic (a span of 29 starts).
Making his PGA Tour debut, Yuta Sugiura (T6/-13) recorded the best finish among the 14 Japanese players in the field.
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Nos. 1-50 in the FedExCup standings through the Tour Championship are locked in their positions, while Nos. 51 and beyond carry their FedExCup points into the Fall. Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall will qualify for two Signature Events in 2025: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational. No players moved into Nos. 51-60 this week.
The Top 125 will be exempt into all Full-Field events and The Players next season and Nos. 126-150 will earn full Korn Ferry Tour status and conditional status on Tour next season.
