The world of professional golf gives us incredible shots every week that millions of amateurs dream of emulating. However, these blows are not always executed at the most decisive moments. Nick Taylor was the exception last night to the point that you couldn’t believe he had won the Sony Open. He starred in a magical finale, with a dream blow to force a playoff in which his pulse did not tremble later.
He arrived at his eighth hole of the fourth round with few options for victory, as he was five strokes behind the leader and with +1 on the day. He closed the gap with the first thanks to four birdies in a row, but the culmination came on the 18th hole, when he was -3 on the final day and two behind the leader. According to the odds, the Canadian had only a 0.4% chance of winning when he stepped onto the 18th tee. Data Golf gave him a choice of 250.
The stars aligned. Taylor chipped for eagle from behind the green on the 18th hole and thus put -16 in his total and tied for the lead with Nico Echavarría. On the other hand, JJ Spaun and Stephan Jaeger, who seemed destined to play in the tournament, made bogeys in the final stretch and were out of contention.
Already in the playoff, the Canadian and the Colombian achieved birdie on the first hole. In the second, the first surpassed the second, after leaving himself a very good birdie option, while the golfer from Medellín ended up three-pointing for par. The victory marks the fifth title of Taylor’s PGA Tour career. They have won in three consecutive seasons and all of these through the playoffs. He won the 2023 RBC Canadian Open in a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood and last year’s Phoenix Open against Charley Hoffman.
