NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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March started out with a bang for Ping golfers as Austin Eckroat and Joaquín Niemann collected big victories on their respective circuits.
Eckroat – a college teammate at Oklahoma State with Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff and Eugenio Chacarra – made his PGA Tour breakthrough with a performance as steady as his outward demeanor at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches, pulling away to a three-shot victory in the weather-delayed finish at PGA National.
“I was shaking in my boots from the moment I got out here this morning,” the 25-year-old Eckroat said. “Just tried to keep a calm demeanor. I think I do pretty well at that in all aspects, whether I'm playing bad or good. But I definitely didn't feel calm on the inside. That's for sure.”
Eckroat has been loyal to the Ping brand since he was 13 and first visited Ping’s facility in Phoenix, Arizona, and struck a relationship with Jeff Brown, Ping player development manager. Eckroat carries a full bag of Ping goods including the G430 driver (LST) and 3-wood (Max), Blueprint S and T irons, Glide Pro wedges and Redwood D66 putter.
“I’ve always felt like part of the Ping family and didn’t want to leave that,” Eckroat said when he signed up as a pro.
Niemann, another 25-year-old, is playing arguably the best golf in the world over the winter. With his victory at the Australian Open in December followed by two LIV Golf titles, in Mexico and Saudi Arabia, the Chilean has secured major invites to the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship despite his status outside the OWGR top 50.
Like Eckroat, Niemann carries a full bag of Ping tools: the G430 LST and Max driver and 3-wood, G420 Max 7-wood, G430 5-hybrid, Blueprint S irons, S159 wedges and a Ping PLD Anser putter. With them he shot a 59 at Mayakoba and has remained red hot all winter, with six top-five finishes in his last seven worldwide starts on three tours across three continents. He leads LIV in birdies (5.33 per round) and ranks second in greens in regulation (75.31 percent).
“I want to feel and I want to think I’m the best all the time,” Niemann said after his win at LIV Golf Jeddah. “I think that’s the only way to be confident and play good golf.”
Meanwhile, 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick made some significant Ping news this offseason as well. Ever since the Englishman turned pro in 2014, he had a set of Ping S55 irons in his bag through 2023. With 10 worldwide wins including a major in nine seasons, there wasn’t much impetus to change.
“I feel I’ve had success with them, so why change when you’re in winning form? That’s the big thing for me,” Fitzpatrick said last April after winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town.
After last fall’s Ryder Cup, however, Fitzpatrick tested Ping’s new Blueprint S irons and wound up winning with them in the next week at the DP World Tour’s Dunhill Links Championship. Once again, he hasn’t felt the need to switch out of them since, having improved from 156th to 22nd in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour since last season.
“What’s not to like, really?” Fitzpatrick told GolfWRX.com last week at Bay Hill. “They just look really good; they perform really good. I just like the feel of them. The look’s the biggest thing, I think, for me. They look like my old (S55s), just probably a little bit more modern. Everything about them is really good. I really like them.”
Scott Michaux