(Reuters) -Nico Echavarria emerged victorious from a dramatic fourth round of the Zozo Championship on Sunday, shooting 67 to finish 20 under par overall and beat Americans Justin Thomas and Max Greyserman by one stroke.
Greyserman finished with a commendable final-round 65 after a run of four birdies on the front nine. He briefly overtook Echavarria with a birdie on the 14th but could not add to that as he ended tied for second place.
The American had an opportunity to force a playoff late in the round at the Narashino Country Club in Japan but was unable to sink his 24-foot birdie putt at 18.
Echavarria kept his cool after losing the lead and birdied the 16th and 18th holes to secure his second title on the PGA Tour and first since he won the Puerto Rico Open in March last year.
“It’s surreal. This moment is very special. It was very close all day, it was fun. (Thomas and Greyserman) got off to a hot start and it was very level during the last, I don’t know, 13 or 10 holes,” the Colombian said.
“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.
“Not a lot of people get to win two times on the PGA Tour. I’m just going to enjoy this as much as I can and get ready for the next one.”
Former world number one Thomas, who was part of the final pairing with Greyserman and Echavarria, failed to break a two-year trophy drought stretching back to his victory at the PGA Championship in 2022.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa finished tied 54th after a disappointing 71 while world No.2 Xander Schauffele was 15 stroeks adrift in a tie for 41st place.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in BengaluruEditing by William Mallard and David Goodman)
