Nick Taylor takes Sony Open in playoff
Canadian Nick Taylor produced a dramatic finish at the 72nd hole of the Sony Open in Honolulu when pitching in for an eagle from just off the back of the green, joining his fellow playing partner Nico Echavarria of Colombia in a playoff for the second event on the new PGA Tour season.
Both players started twenty minutes ahead of the final group of the day and three off the lead held by J.J. Spaun. In what developed into a tense shootout over the final round, as many as a dozen players still had chances heading into the final nine holes.
A birdie by Echavarria and the hole out for eagle by Taylor set the target for those behind but when Spaun and Stephen Jaeger failed to record the birdie they needed to join the playoff, just Taylor and Echavarria headed back to the 18th tee to decide the outcome.
Both players birdied the first extra hole but when Taylor birdied the par 5 the second time around it was all over.
For the 36 year old Taylor it was his 5th PGA Tour title and opens the door for the riches of Signature events for the remainder of the year on the PGA Tour.
“Not making top 50 I knew would make the next year just not where I wanted to be,” said Taylor referring to a poor second half to last season. “Not making the Presidents Cup definitely hurt. I felt like my play — I had more myself to blame. I felt like I put Mike (Weir) in a tough situation.
“Yeah, on top of that I had to play more in the fall than I had originally planned and away from family a few times.
“Put some work in in the off-season and really wanted to be ready to go. Not that you’re ever expecting necessarily to win right away out of the gates after some time off, but I knew my west coast — because I was in the first two Signature Events, that my west coast was going to be great and a lot of golf courses I played well on and enjoy.
“So, again, to have this good of a start is awesome.”
For the two Australians in the field, there was not a lot of joy; Aaron Baddeley finished last among those who made the cut, and Cam Davis missed out on weekend play.
