Canadian Nick Taylor delivered another dramatic finish, replacing Eagle on the 18th hole to advance to the play-offs at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open, then winning with a brilliant shot that gave him a chance to beat Nico Echavarria.
Taylor never looked like a winner at Waialae, especially after he missed two short birdie opportunities later in the game. But that all changed so suddenly when his Eagle chip from 60 feet rolled onto the par-5 closing hole for a 5-under 65.
Colombian Echavarria joined him with a great bunker shot for a tap-in birdie at No. 18 and a 65. They finished at 16-264.
Taylor now has five PGA Tour titles to his name.
At the Sony Open, he had to make a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to survive on the first playoff hole. Playing the 18th again, Taylor dropped from a fairway bunker into the cup by 46 yards. His pitch was close to perfect, landing on the front of the green and rolling with the grain until it only reached three feet.
Echavarria was right on the collar at the back of the green, but his 40-foot eagle putt missed him by seven feet and missed birdie.
The victory sends Taylor back to the Masters, which is a big gain after last season’s disastrous finish. Last year he won the Phoenix Open with clutch shots in the playoffs.
His best playoff victory came at home during the 2023 Canadian Open when he made a 20-foot eagle putt.
“I’m kind of stunned that it all turned out this way,” Taylor said with a smile.
“It was one of those games where you try to go until they don’t let you play anymore.
“Luckily for me, really good things happened at the end.”
German Stephan Jaeger and American JJ Spaun left Waialae with great regret.
From the moment they received the turn it looked like a duel between them to determine the winner, and in the final group they performed brilliantly until the final three holes.
Jeager made his first bogey on the 16th and could only match the par 5 18th, shooting 67 to tie Spaun for third place, one shot out of the playoffs.
Spaun made his only bogey on the 17th and also had to settle for a par on the final 68th.
On a day when at the beginning 15 players were separated by three shots, only these four seriously threatened at the end.
Hideki Matsuyama, who won with a PGA Tour record 35-under par last week at Kapalua, finished with an 11-under 66 to tie for 16th, trying to become just the third player to win in Hawaii.
Australian veteran Aaron Baddeley finished the race as the last competitor to reach the halfway point, and at the end he had 71 points and was three points ahead.
