Nick Taylor wins another playoff with clutch play on the 18th in the Sony Open

 

[January 13, 2025]  By DOUG FERGUSON

HONOLULU (AP) — Nick Taylor in a playoff is tough to beat. Getting there was hardest part for the Canadian, who delivered another highlight reel of clutch moments Sunday in the Sony Open.

Down to his last shot, Taylor chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae for a 5-under 65 to get into a playoff with Nico Echavarria.

He holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. And then he hit a wedge from 46 yards that was close to perfect to set up a 3-foot birdie putt for the win. The last shot might have been the easiest shot he had in the final hour.

“I'm a bit stunned this worked out this way,” Taylor said.

That was true for so many others, starting with Echavarria, the 30-year-old Chilean who delivered some big moments of his own with a 15-foot par save, a 12-foot birdie, and twice getting up-and-down from the bunker at the end for a 65 to join Taylor at 16-under 264.

Behind them were Stephan Jaeger and J.J. Spaun, and the Sony Open looked to come down to them along the back nine until Jaeger piped a drive out-of-bounds on the 16th and Spaun bogeyed from a bunker on the 17th. Both failed to birdie the par-5 18th to join the playoff.

Echavarria was surprised it was only a two-man playoff.

“If Nick doesn't chip in, I win the tournament,” he said.

Echavarria didn't miss a beat in his bid for a third straight year with a PGA Tour title. The bunker shot on the 18th was creative and bold for a tap-in birdie. On the 18th in the first playoff hole, his second shot looked to be about 20 feet away on the fringe for an eagle putt when the wind nudged it down the hill into the rough, forcing him to get up-and-down.

He had 40 feet on the collar for eagle on the second playoff hole at No. 18, and the first putt came out soft and was 7 feet short. He missed the birdie putt to extend the playoff.

“I misjudged the lag putt on the last hole. I didn’t think it was going to be that slow. Didn’t consider the wind,” Echavarria said. “The wind kind of held it and my lag putting today was a little off, which is a strength of mine. But, I mean, just one bad putt can’t define a great week.”

Taylor never looked like a winner — especially after missing a pair of 4-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th holes — until he had a lei around his neck and the trophy in his hand. It was his fifth PGA Tour title, the last three in a playoff.

He beat Charley Hoffman in Phoenix last year with clutch putting in a playoff. And it was the Canadian Open in 2023 when Taylor famously holed that 70-foot eagle putt to win his national open before a delirious, rain-soaked crowd.

Nick Taylor, of Canada, celebrates after making a shot on the 18th green during the final round of the Sony Open golf event, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The victory sends Taylor to the Masters again, a big perk after a dismal end to last season. He moved back to No. 29 in the world and will be in all the signature events this year. None of this seemed possible when he was two behind with two to play coming off two short misses.

“It was just one of those where you try to go until they don't let you play anymore,” Taylor said. "I was 1 over through seven, get on a birdie streak there. It's always so bunched here, but I did a really good job every day really of just hanging in there.

“Fortunate for me, really good things happened at the end.”

Jaeger and Spaun both left Waialae with plenty of regrets. From the time they made the turn, it looked like a duel between them to decide the winner, and they put on a great show until the final three holes.

Jaeger holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th to catch Spaun, who then followed by making a par putt from just inside 30 feet to stay tied for the lead.

Jaeger didn't hit a fairway on the back nine except for an iron off the 15th tee, and it finally caught up with him at the end. He hit driver to cut off the dogleg on the 16th but it went so far left that it was never found, presumed to be out-of-bounds.

“The one on 16 I would like to have back. Wrong hole to hit that shot,” Jaeger said.

Jaeger did well to made bogey off a provisional ball to stay only one behind — Spaun missed a 10-foot birdie putt that would have given him a cushion. And then Spaun made bogey from the bunker on the 17th.

All the while, Echavarria and Taylor rallied in improbable ways.

Jaeger and Spaun needed birdie on the par-5 closing hole to join the playoff. Jaeger hit 3-wood off the tee and didn't clear the bunker, and his second shot hit the lip and left him in the rough some 178 yards away. He went over the green and made par for a 67.

Spaun from the 18th fairway missed to the right, the worst place to be because the pin was cut to the right with the wind at his back. He did well to get it to 10 feet, and then missed the birdie putt and shot 68.

All contents © copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved