Sony Open win sets Taylor up nicely as major tournaments approach

Of the many congratulatory messages Nick Taylor received after his fifth PGA Tour win, there was one from Canadian golf legend Mike Weir.

Weir was the Presidents Cup captain who omitted Taylor from the International Team last September, instead picking fellow Canadians Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith to play at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

“There’s certainly no ill will there,” Taylor said in a media conference on Tuesday after winning the Sony Open in dramatic fashion on the weekend. “I’m sure there are people saying things about it, but no. Mike’s always has been great, and it was very nice for him to reach out.”

The 36-year-old Taylor claimed victory on the second event of the season in Waialae, Hawaii, on Sunday, winning on the second playoff hole with a birdie against Colombia’s Nico Echavarria.

Taylor drilled home a 60-foot pitch shot for a 72nd-hole eagle to get into a playoff.

“Mike sent me a nice message of congratulations, and we talked a bit about the pitches,” Taylor said.

Taylor didn’t do himself any favours in his bid to make the International team. After he captured the Waste Management Phoenix Open last February, Taylor checked in with only one top-10 result, and that was a tie for 10th with fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event.

But this was the third year in a row the Abbotsford, B.C.-raised golfer has won on the PGA Tour with a playoff. Taylor joins an elite group, as Bubba Watson (2010-12), Ernie Els (2002-04), Phil Mickelson (2000-02) and Tiger Woods (1999-01) are the only others to accomplish the feat.

In his latest three wins, Taylor has demonstrated a flair for the dramatic. Before his clutch chip-in eagle on Sunday, Taylor finished with three birdies in the final four holes and then birdied the first two holes of the playoff to defeat Charley Hoffman on Super Bowl Sunday in Phoenix last year.

The playoff run began with his 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth extra hole of the 2023 RBC Canadian Open to prevail over Tommy Fleetwood.

“For whatever reason, I see the shot I want to hit and trust it,” Taylor said. “It’s something I’m trying to figure out to be more consistent to get in those situations more often and pull off the shots I want to do.”

The Sony Open victory was the first with his parents in attendance and sets up Taylor nicely as he will play two more courses he’s had success on before the Players Championship in March and the Masters in April.

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The Phoenix stop is three weeks away, preceded by the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Taylor won at Pebble Beach in 2020.

“There are a lot of golf courses in the next few months that are on top of my favourites list,” said Taylor, who will play in this week’s American Express in La Quinta, Calif.

“Hopefully, I keep playing great and the putts keep rolling in to set up the rest of the year. It’s always nice to get off to a good start in a new season, especially this year with the win.”

Taylor hopes to employ last week’s good vibrations as inspiration to play better in the four majors. He’s missed the cut in his past nine major starts, seven in a row dating back to the 2023 U.S. Open.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “Seven in a row missed isn’t that great.

“A lot has been missing the cut by a shot or two. Two shots can make a big difference in those big events. So yeah, I’m not going to go in thinking too much. I’m trying to get a little bit better and more comfortable in those situations.”