The name of Nico Echavarria might be comparatively newer to the golf world, but his accolades sure are not. The thirty-year-old pro started swinging his clubs at the age of 2 with his father and grandfather. He joined the PGA Tour in 2022, five years after turning pro, and so far, has already claimed close to $3 million. However, he has only been able to clinch on to just one win so far that was back in 2023 at the Puerto Rico Open.

Echavarria is finally making it to the headlines, fulfilling his dreams, one at a time. While his family has been of immense support throughout his career, there was a pillar standing stronger than ever for him in the saga, outside his blood. It was his long-term girlfriend Claudia De Antonio. Born on December 9, 1995, to parents Jose and Ana De Antonio in Caracas Venezuela, Antonio has been athletic, just like Echavarria, ever since her childhood. She began her education journey at San Ignacio de Loyola Caracas, where she studied from 2003 to 2007. 

Claudia De Antonio was also a part of the swim team at such an early age. In 2007, she moved to Gimnasio Femenino, where she not only had a leadership ambassador, but that was where her love for golf blossomed for the first time. She completed her high school at the American Heritage School from 2010 to 2014 with a grade of 4.1693, which highlights she was indeed average when it came to studying. However, her golf game got top-notch, playing for the school team. In 2014, Antonio enrolled herself at the Louisiana State University, to pursue BSC in Marketing. There, she started playing collegiate golf. 

During her freshman year, Claudia De Antonio competed in three spring events, including the Southeastern Conference Championships. Achieved her best finish of the year with a 56th place at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic, while her top score was 17-over par (80-78-75) at the SEC Championships, resulting in a tie for 58th. She averaged 79.33 over nine rounds, with five rounds scored in the 70s.

In her senior year, she competed in ten events and had a stroke average of an impressive 74.38. She also carded an ace on the 141-yard 12th hole at the Betsy Rawls and was a part of the field at the NCAA Regionals after finishing as the top individual at the SEC Championships. Her love for golf just started to elevate as she graduated in May 2018. 

Claudia De Antonio enrolled herself in the University of Miami for a Masters degree in Business Management and Leadership for a year. She was once again part of the female golf team, the achievements of which are not known so far. However, by the time she graduated, swinging her clubs in the courses was not the only thing she wanted to do. She had a lot more in mind.

Claudia De Antonio: The successful businesswoman

Claudia De Antonio started assisting at the Junior Golf Camp in Weston Hills Country Club after graduating from high school. She taught students between five to twelve years the basics of golf, its rules, and some parts of course management. During her bachelor’s, she did a marketing internship at the Diario las Américas, where she mostly took charge of social media marketing, as a part of her course subject from June 2017 to August 2017. 

Parallelly, she also became a Marketing specialist at UPS, in the same month, but continued working for it, even after her internship was over. After graduating from the University of Miami, she started pursuing what she loved the most. She became a Golf Marketing Coordinator at the Perry Ellis International. She was not just handling their social media but was also a marketing strategist there.

Subsequently, Claudia De Antonio had two other jobs (Account Manager at Albatross International, and Independent Sales Representative at LimeLife by Alcone), before she finally got her dream fulfilled. In February 2023, she co-founded Papaya y Piña, which is a golf apparel brand catering to young girls. They implement cost-effective measures, without compromising the quality of the product. She is still in it, ever since, and Nico Echavarria has been her support system throughout, as has she for him. 

The love story of Nico Echavarria and Claudia De Antonio

The story of how Nico Echavarria and Claudia De Antonio met has not yet been revealed, but they did start dating each other somewhere around 2016. Antonio is a huge social bee and keeps posting her life on her Instagram. She posted the PGA Tour Pro for the first time on May 10, 2016. It was a picture of a date night together in Baton Rouge Louisiana, and she captioned it, “You’re my new favorite feeling 💖”.

It was a getaway weekend for the couple, as a few months later, she posted a picture from the same trip and wrote, “Perfect weekend with my perfect man. Miss you already 💖”. There has been no looking back for the couple ever since. From spending every Christmas together to going on trips, of course, Antonio never missed out on any golf tournaments in Echavarria. She was there at the RSM Classic during his rookie year on the Tour in 2022 through all the ups and downs. 

Claudia De Antonio even has Nico Echavarria’s maiden PGA Tour victory of 2023 pinned on her wall, both of them posing with the trophy. “Thanks again to all the teamwork for their unconditional support. Let’s keep achieving dreams and goals,” she concluded the long paragraph in the caption dedicated to him. However, there have been no announcements of marriage or engagement between the couple.

What are your thoughts on the happy couple? Let us know in the comments below.