HONOLULU — Nick Taylor in the playoffs is hard to beat. Getting there was the hardest part for the Canadian, who delivered another highlight reel of clutch moments on Sunday at the Sony Open.
Down to his final shot, Taylor chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae for a 5-under 65 to move into a playoff with Nico Echavarria.
He holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. He then hit a wedge from 46 yards that was close to par to set up a three-foot birdie putt for the win. The last shot may have been the easiest shot he had in the last hour.
“I’m surprised it happened this way,” Taylor said.
That was true for many others, starting with Echavarria, the 30-year-old Chilean who brought his big moments with a 15-foot putt, a 12-foot birdie, and a double bogey. bunker last 65 to join Taylor at 16-under 264.
Behind them were Stephan Jaeger and JJ Spaun, and the Sony Open looked to be going down the back nine until Jaeger bogeyed the 16th and Spaun holed out on the 17th. Both failed to birdie the par-5 18th to join the playoff.
Echavarria was surprised that it was only a two-man match.
“If Nick doesn’t step in, I win the tournament,” he said.
Echavarria didn’t miss a beat in his quest for a third straight PGA Tour title. The bunker shot on the 18th was creative and daring for a birdie. On the 18th on the first qualifying hole, his second shot looked about 20 feet from the edge of the eagle putt when the wind drove it down the hill into the dirt, forcing him to putt.
He had a 40-footer for eagle on the second qualifying hole at No. 18, and the first putt was soft and 7 feet short. He missed a birdie putt to extend the playoff.
“I misjudged the lag putt on the last hole. I didn’t think it would go slow. I didn’t consider the wind,” Echavarria said. “The wind was holding and my putting today was a little off, which is my strength. But, I mean, one bad putt can’t define a good week.”
Taylor never looked like a winner — especially after missing 4-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th holes — until she had a lei around her neck and a medal in her hand. It was his fifth PGA Tour title, the last three in the tournament.
He beat Charley Hoffman in Phoenix last year with a clutch hit in the playoffs. And it was at the Canadian Open in 2023 that Taylor famously holed a 70-foot eagle putt to win his country’s open in front of a rain-soaked crowd.
The win sends Taylor to the Masters again, a huge gain after a poor end to last season. He’s back to No. 29 in the world and will be at every signature event this year. None of this seemed possible when he was behind with two to play from two short errors.
“It was one of those where you try to go until they don’t let you play,” Taylor said. “I was 1 to 7 years old, I started playing there. It’s always crowded here, but I did a great job every day just hanging in there.
“I’m lucky, really good things happen in the end.”
Jaeger and Spaun both left Waialae with many regrets. From the moment they made the turn, it looked like a duel between them to decide the winner, and they put on a great show until the last three holes.
Jaeger holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th to catch Spaun, who followed with a par putt from just inside 30 feet to stay tied for the lead.
Jaeger didn’t hit the fairway on the back nine without an iron off the 15th tee, and he finally got it. He hit a driver to break the dogleg on the 16th but it went left and out of reach, thought to be out of bounds.
“16 I’d like to come back. It’s a bad hole to hit that shot,” Jaeger said.
Jaeger did well to bogey the tee ball to stay behind — Spaun missed a 10-foot birdie putt that would have given him a cushion. Spaun then made bogey from the bunker on the 17th.
All the while, Echavarria and Taylor meet in unlikely ways.
Jaeger and Spaun needed a birdie on the closing par-5 hole to join the playoff. Jaeger hit a 3-wood off the tee and didn’t clear the fairway, and his second shot hit the lip leaving him a difficult 178 yards. He went over the green and made a par of 67.
Spaun from the 18th fairway misses right, the worst place to be because the pin is cut right with the wind at his back. He made good to get to 10 feet, then missed a birdie putt and shot 68.
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