What Nico Echavarria shared about having a ‘villain mentality’ after winning the 2025 Baycurrent Classic

Last year, Nico Echavarria won the Baycurrent Classic with a one-stroke margin ahead of Max Greyserman and Justin Thomas. Ahead of this year’s tournament, he looked back at his iconic victory at Yokohama Country Club and revealed how he had to change his mentality to win.

During a press conference held before the 2025 Baycurrent Classic, Echavarria sat down with the press to reflect on how he clinched his second PGA Tour title. He recalled walking down the 10th fairway at Yokohama Country Club last year, saying that he had “absolutely no momentum” on his side.

Feeling like the underdog, Nico Echavarria said that he knew something had to change so he could feel the spark he needed to defeat 16-time PGA Tour winner Justin Thomas, who was hot on his heels. As such, he had to adopt a “villain” mindset.

“I had a different mindset coming into that back nine, of almost becoming the villain. Playing against Justin Thomas, that is a great player,” Echavarria said. “So I wanted to have a villain mentality and just, I don’t know if the expression is ‘damage the party,’ but yeah, I had to change something in my mindset with that back nine to go and yeah, it helped. So it was cool for it to happen,” he added.

Nico Echavarria won the 2024 Baycurrent Classic, then named the Zozo Championship, with 20-under 260 across 72 holes. During his final round, he shot two birdies and one bogey on the front nine and fired three birdies and one bogey on the back nine.

The Medellin native rolled in a birdie on the 18th to clinch the title. Meanwhile, Thomas fell short of winning by one stroke.

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When Nico Echavarria dubbed himself ‘one of the best golfers in the world’

In January 2025, Nico Echavarria narrowly missed winning the Sony Open in Hawaii after being defeated by Nick Taylor in a playoff. During a post-round press conference, he spoke about his golfing abilities and declared that he was one of the best in the game.

“I believe in myself now. I believe that I’m one of the best golfers in the world, and every time I’m close to the lead I like the way I’m performing… Putting myself there was the hard part. Now I’ve been doing it more [consistently], which is not easy,” he said.

Despite starting the season strong, Nico Echavarria has only recorded two top-10 results in his 23 starts of the year. In addition to his result from the Sony Open in Hawaii, he tied for sixth in the Rocket Classic after scoring 20-under.

Echavarria missed the cut in eight tournaments this season, including notable events such as the US Open and the Open Championship. His third-best result so far is a tie for 16th in the Valspar Championship.

Edited by Sarah Rishama Madaki