Hayden Wood Wins OK State Am in Hometown

EDMOND, OK (July 19, 2018) — Oklahoma State rising senior Hayden Wood defeated his fellow Cowboy Austin Eckroat in the final match of the Oklahoma Amateur Championship on Thursday at The Patriot Golf Club.

The rising sophomore Eckroat, who grew up playing with Wood at Oak Tree National Golf Club in Edmond, won the first hole with a birdie to take a 1-up lead which he immediately gave back on No. 2 when he made bogey to Wood’s par.

After halving the next four holes with pars, Eckroat would see another brief lead with a birdie win at the 387-yard 7th hole. But Wood, the 2017 U.S. Amateur Medalist, answered back on the short par-5 8th and followed it with two more birdie wins on Nos. 9 and 10. A fully warmed up Hayden Wood would play the remainder of the match bogey free, winning the event on No. 16 when he made eagle at the par-5.

“I don’t know if I would have enjoyed playing Hayden earlier in the tournament, because we both wanted to make it all the way and knocking one of us out early would have sucked,” said Eckroat. “But with the way it worked out, I was wanting it to be me vs. Hayden in the finals. It was fun playing for the title with someone who I play golf with almost every day.”

“When the pairings were out, we both were really excited that we were on opposite sides of the bracket,” confirmed his teammate and 2018 Oklahoma State Champion.

The pair will head next to San Francisco’s Olympic Club for the Pacific Coast Amateur, which begins play on Tuesday, July 24.