AT&T BYRON NELSON

May 14, 2023

Austin Eckroat

TPC Craig Ranch

Quick Quotes

Q. Gave it a good effort out there, first time kind of in that spot. How did you feel you held up both mentally and with the game today?

AUSTIN ECKROAT: I felt great all day. Slept good last night, really surprised myself with how I felt. When I came out and birdied the first hole, it really settled the nerves a little bit. Everything was solid, and I really felt like I played well enough to win. It's just hard to beat a guy that goes out and shoots 9-under. A lot of positives to build off of.

Q. With how everything was going, after after Marty makes that double on 7, suddenly so many guys were in the tournament. How much were you looking at the craziness of it and all the names that were up there?

AUSTIN ECKROAT: Yeah, all of us got off to a decent start, and then I looked on hole 9 and saw I don't know how many guys, but 10, 15 guys had a chance to win realistically, and it was crazy. I mean, you're just trying to get up there, and it was fun to get some separation at the end and see if you could get a chance to win, like I did, and it was a really fun battle on the back nine.

Q. Yesterday when we talked to you, you said a win at this point, that really feels like the only way I'd be successful after the end of this week. After the way you played, do you still feel like that?

AUSTIN ECKROAT: No, this was a success for sure. I played four great rounds, got off to a terrible start on Thursday and just battled back. Yeah, it was a successful week for sure. Hopefully next time I get it done.

Q. I saw your family out there. What does it mean to play like that here?

AUSTIN ECKROAT: Yeah, I had a ton of family here, a ton of friends. It's only three hours from home. If I would have gotten it done, it probably would have been about the perfect place to do it with everybody being here. But still, I'll take the second place finish with family. They're all proud of me, and it was just a great week.