PGA Tour: Nick Taylor grabs dramatic Sony Open playoff win to earn invitation to The Masters | Golf news
Nick Taylor scored another dramatic victory on the PGA Tour, surrendering an eagle to force a playoff en route to victory over Nico Echavarria at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Canada’s Taylor never looked like a winner at Waialae Country Club after missing two short birdie opportunities in the final stretch, only to chip in from the green on the back five to shoot a five-under 65 to leapfrog the clubhouse lead.
Echavarria made a great bunker shot for a tap-in birdie on the 18th to match Taylor’s 65 and also reach 16 under, with Stephen Jaeger and JJ Spaun each finishing one shot out of a playoff in a tie for third.
Taylor had to birdie 10 feet to match Echavarria and keep the play-off alive, before getting up and walking off the green to birdie the second extra play-off to secure victory when his opponent three-putted for par.
Taylor’s victory is his fifth on the PGA Tour and his third straight via a play-off, following the 2023 RBC Canadian Open and the WM Phoenix Open last season, and the latest success also earned him an invitation to the Masters this April.
Taylor has the upper hand in the Sony Open thriller
It had previously looked like the winner would be decided in a battle between Jaeger and Spaun, with Jaeger hitting a 30-foot birdie on the 14th to catch Spaun while the American birdied from a similar distance to save par and stay tied for the lead.
Jaeger hit his tee shot out of bounds on the 16th and had to make a 20-footer only to climb to bogey, while Spaun missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the same hole and then bogeyed the next when he failed to get up and down from the bunker on the green side.
At the same time, Echavarria made a 15-foot par save on the 15th, a 12-foot birdie on the 16th, saved par from the bunker on the 17th and then hit a great bunker shot over the 18th for birdie to get up and down for birdie.
Taylor looked to have lost his chances as he missed two birdie putts from four feet to stay two behind, only to finish last in dramatic fashion, while Spaun failed to convert a birdie putt on the par-five to join the game last. -off and Jaeger also had to settle for the final pair.
“I’m a little stunned that it turned out this way,” Taylor said. “I went from one to seven, got a string of birdies there. It’s always so tight here, but I did a really good job every day just hanging in there. Luckily for me, some really good things happened at the end.”
Eric Cole finished fifth and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was in a group tied for sixth, with England’s Harry Hall tied for tenth after a one-under 69 on Sunday. Hideki Matsuyama, who won at Kapalua last week with a PGA Tour record 35-under par, closed with a 66 to finish tied for 16th.
What’s next?
The PGA Tour season moves to California at the American Express, which is held at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta. Early coverage begins on Thursday from 4.30pm on Sky Sports Golf before full coverage from 9pm. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW.
