Nick Taylor comes through in the clutch. Now he wants more chances to be there

The latest came Sunday when he least expected it. Taylor chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on the last hole, made a 10-foot birdie putt to stay in the game and won it with a perfectly clipped wedge to just inside 3 feet for birdie to beat Nico Echavarria in a playoff.

And no, he wouldn’t trade them.

“I really love the trophies,” Taylor said. “But I would also love to be more consistent.”

Taylor, from Abbotsford, B.C., plays practice rounds often with another Canadian, Corey Conners, and their history oddly runs deep. Conners played with him in the weekday rounds when Taylor won in Canada and Hawaii, and Taylor played with Conners the opening two rounds when Conners won in Texas.

Conners has been a greater model of consistency, with only one win since 2020.

“I’ve played with Corey a lot in practice rounds and tournaments. He’s somebody I aspire to be with his consistency. He’s phenomenal,” Taylor said. “That being said, I really enjoy being in moments and being able to close the deal and to win tournaments is ultimately what we’re trying to do. Again, yeah, consistency. I would love to get there to his level.”

Last year was particularly discouraging because so much was at stake — battling for a spot in the Olympics, and the Presidents Cup being held at Royal Montreal with Canadian Mike Weir as the International captain.

Taylor looked like a shoo-in when he won the Phoenix Open, only to go into a funk — only one finish in the top 20 (tie for 12th at Bay Hill), missed cuts in all four majors and a disappointing phone call when Weir left him off the team.

He also failed to finish in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup, which would have assured Taylor played in all the $20 million signature events.

“Not making top 50 I knew would make the next year just not where I wanted to be. Not making the Presidents Cup definitely hurt,” Taylor said. “I had more myself to blame. I felt like I put Mike in a tough situation. On top of that, I had to play more in the fall than I had originally planned and be away from family a few times.”

Taylor put in some work in the short off-season — and was eager to start a West Coast that featured some of his favourite courses and three signature events at least staying (barely) in the top 60 in the FedEx Cup.

Now he can bank on a return to the Masters and a spot in all the signature events.

“To have this good of a start is awesome,” he said.

So was the finish.

Taylor was two shots behind when he missed 4-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th holes and figured that was his last chance.

But then he chipped in for eagle, the leaders behind him — Stephan Jaeger and J.J. Spaun — each dropped a shot and failed to birdie the 18th. That left Taylor and Echavarria, a promising Chilean who has been on a tear recently.

Echavarria, who had some clutch moments of his own on the closing four holes, had the upper hand in the playoff until Taylor made a touch pitch up a steep slope and made a 10-foot birdie. Echavarria again had the advantage on the second playoff hole, 40 feet away on the fringe, while Taylor was back in the fairway 46 yards away.

The pitch was perfect by Taylor. The putt by Echavarria came off soft, stopped 7 feet away and he missed the birdie putt.

Taylor’s last three PGA Tour victories were all in a playoff — four extra holes in Canada, two in Phoenix, two in Hawaii.

“I think I enjoy being in those moments. For whatever reason my mind gets clear in those situations of the shot I’m just trying to hit,” he said. “I’ve worked on that the last couple years, why in those situation am I good and the other situations where I’m not consistent if I’m in 30th or something. We’ll work on that. But nice start to the year, obviously.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Nick Taylor comes through in the clutch. Now he wants more chances to be there

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