Austin Eckroat is in the early stages of his PGA Tour career, having graduated through the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 2022. During November of that same year, he married his childhood friend, Sally Merrill in Oklahoma City.
The pair have known each other since they were 18 months old, with Merrill revealing that the first time Eckroat said he liked her was when they were lined up for recess in kindergarten.
They grew up together in Edmond, Oklahoma but went on to attend different schools. And the pair remained friends even after Sally and her family moved to Oklahoma City.
Merrill was a member of the cross-country squad at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School before moving on to the University of Oklahoma - where she achieved a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and Image Management.
After sparking up a mutual romantic interest via Instagram, Eckroat and Merrill began officially dating in 2019 while he was playing golf at Oklahoma State University.
Merrill - who was born on September 22, 1999 - has continued to follow Eckroat around North America for golf matches and was in attendance when he secured his PGA Tour card through the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
Having announced their engagement in May 2021, the pair capped off a memorable 2022 by tying the knot at their wedding ceremony in Oklahoma City during November.
After flying in during round three to hopefully see her husband close out his first PGA Tour victory at the 2024 Cognizant Classic, Sally said: "It would mean everything to him [to win]. He works so hard, and I'm so proud of him.
"I'm getting emotional talking about it, but he just works so hard, and I'm so proud of him. Even just where he is right now, playing in the last group [on the final day]. It'll be fun, either way, it'll be a good day.
"He's the nicest guy. He's so humble, and he works extremely, extremely hard. So, it'd be nice to see all that hard work pay off."
