Shane Lowry collapse leads to Nico Echavarria's Cognizant win - ESPN

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Nico Echavarria didn't make a bogey all weekend. Shane Lowry was on his way to doing the same, until the very end.

And that's what decided the Cognizant Classic.

Echavarria, who was three shots back with three holes left, shot a 5-under 66 on Sunday to win at PGA National, finishing at 17-under 267 and beating Lowry (69), Austin Smotherman (69) and Taylor Moore (68) by two shots.

«It was a blessing today,» Echavarria said. «I didn't have my best off the tee, but I was able to manage. I had some good breaks. To win out here, sometimes you have to have good breaks if you're not Scottie Scheffler that hits it every time in the perfect place. So, I'm happy with how it went.»

Lowry was undone by consecutive double bogeys at the par-4 16th and par-3 17th, both resulting from tee shots that drifted way right and into the water. He remains snakebit by PGA National, where he has now finished in the top 11 for five straight years without a victory.

«I had the tournament in my hands and I threw it away,» Lowry said. «What more can I say?»

It was Echavarria's third PGA Tour win and first in the contiguous United States, and this one earned the 31-year-old from Colombia a second Masters invitation. The $1.728 million winner's check was the biggest of his career, about $200,000 more than what he got for winning the Zozo Championship in Japan in 2024.

He could use the cash, too. Echavarria closed on a house in South Florida last week, and promised his wife that when he got his third win, they would add a dog to the family.

«I was hitting the ball good, and here we are,» Echavarria said. «We're getting a dog.»

He became the sixth player representing South America to win at least three times on the PGA Tour,