Nico Echavarria left ‘real life’ decisions to wife Claudia | D’Angelo

ORLANDO — Nico Echavarria had two major decisions to make during his week in Palm Beach Gardens.

What to hit on the par-3 17th hole at PGA National when the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches suddenly was within reach.

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And what rocks to choose for the landscaping by the entrance of the new home he and wife Claudia purchased in Palm Beach Gardens.

That’s a lot on one man’s mind.

“There are little rocks on the outside of the entrance of the house,” Echavarria said from Bay Hill the day before his opening round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “And it was either that or no rocks or like a certain color.”

More Cognizant Classic: Nico Echavarria wins after Shane Lowry collapses

So Nico took on that project, while Claudia took care of the closing the same day as the Cognizant second round, and just about everything else that comes with a young couple purchasing their first home.

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Of course, it was that first decision, and what followed is what the Echavarria’s will remember from last weekend, even more than cutting the ribbon to their first home.

Suddenly, whether choosing crushed stone, lava rocks or river rock to line the walkway to your front door seemed almost inconsequential.

That was because when the 31-year-old Columbian stuck that wedge to about 10-feet at No. 17 and rolled in the birdie putt, which he punctuated by punching the air, it was game on.

One hole later, as Shane Lowry was making double bogey on two of the final three holes, Echavarria had a short wait after a par on No. 18 to learn he would win for the third time on the PGA Tour, and was taking home the $1.728 million winner’s check.

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Talk about a housewarming gift.

Nico and Claudie Echavarria moving to Palm Beach Gardens from Ponte Vedra Beach

Nico and Claudia were married the day after Thanksgiving in Punta Cana. The couple already had decided they would be moving from Ponte Vedra Beach to Palm Beach County.

Nico’s job did not make it easy. He played five events in January and February in Hawaii and on the West Coast — missing four cuts — before Cognizant.

That left most of the planning to Claudia.

“She’s worked very hard the last five or six months, not only with the house, but with the wedding, the honeymoon,” Nico said. “I’m lucky to have her. Just for me to think of playing golf she’s taken care of most of the things in real life.”

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The arrangement has worked so far. Nico’s win at PGA National was his third on Tour and qualified him for all the Signature Events, Players Championship, Masters and PGA Championship.

Now, he will find out the challenge of coming off one of the greatest moment of your career and playing a tournament in which he was not expecting against a field infinitely better than the previous week and on a course that is one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour.

Joe Highsmith did not handle that situation very well a year ago. The 2025 Cognizant winner missed the cut the next week at Bay Hill, with a 75-74.

“I found myself a week later at Bay Hill, having no idea what I was doing on the golf course,” Highsmith said.

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Echavarria, whose opening-round tee time was 1 p.m., admitted he did not have a lot of rest early in week. “It’s what we call the adrenaline crash. So a little tired, but very happy,” he said.

“It’s hard to celebrate the wins. It’s very hard to win, and we don’t celebrate it enough. We don’t enjoy it enough.”

Echavarria called it a “mindset,” something he started working on when arrive in Orlando and played Bay Hill two days before the tournament started. He is making his API debut.

“Once I step on the first tee it’s all business,” he said. “And it’s the same mindset, try to hit it every shot the best way I can and find it and hit it again.”

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Camilo Villegas a role model, mentor to Nico Echavarria

While in the area for the closing and the Cognizant, Nico and Claudia stayed in the home of Camilo and Maria Villegas in Jupiter. Camilo, a five-time PGA Tour winner, is Columbia’s most iconic golfer and an idol to virtually every aspiring golfer in the country.

To Nico, who is from the same town (Medellin), school and club as Villegas, he is a mentor.

“He’s been a role model to me and being able to spend so much time with him has helped me a lot,” Nico said. “I’m very thankful for all the knowledge and all the things he’s helped me with in my career.”

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Nico and Claudia’s move to South Florida was not for the reason most would think. The area is flush with golf royalty, which just perpetuates itself. Golfers enjoy hanging and playing with other golfers, which keeps attracting more and more golfers.

But with Claudia’s parents living in Weston and with the couple hoping to start a family, they wanted to be closer to family. Nico’s parents are in Columbia.

The fact the area could start its own tour with the professional golfers living in the area, and he’s now closer to his role model, and he was able to join Jack Nicklaus’ Bear’s Club, which he described a “really, really special” place … Well, that’s a bonus.

“Really, really special.” Kind of describes Nico’s weekend, too.

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Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Nico Echavarria’s PGA Tour win a ‘housewarming gift’ for new home