Nick Taylor scored another dramatic PGA Tour victory with an eagle to force a playoff en route to victory over Nico Echavarria at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Canada’s Taylor never looked like a winner at Waialae Country Club after missing two short birdie opportunities at the close, only to get off the green at the fifth to post a five-under 65 to jump into the clubhouse lead.
Echavarria birdied the 18th to match Taylor’s 65 and also reached 16 under, while Stephen Yager and JJ Spawn both finished one stroke out of a playoff for third.
Nico Echavarria (left) and Nick Taylor were involved in the playoffs
Taylor had to hole a 10-foot birdie putt to match Ejavarria and keep the playoff alive before getting up and down the green to birdie the second extra playoff to secure the win after his rival had leveled at three.
The victory was Taylor’s fifth on the PGA Tour and third straight through a playoff, following the RBC Canadian Open in 2023 and the WM Phoenix Open last season, the latter of which also earned him an invitation to the Masters this April.
Taylor presents the Sony Open thriller
It looked like a battle to decide the winner early on between Jaeger and Spawn when Jaeger birdied the 14th from 30 feet to catch Spawn as the American birdied from the same distance to maintain his par and stay tied for the lead.
Jaeger hit his tee shot on the 16th and had to putt 20 feet to get past the bogey, while Spoon missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the same hole and then fumbled the next after failing to get up and down a greenside bunker. :
Meanwhile, Echavarria made a 15-foot save on the 15th, a 12-foot birdie on the 16th, saved a bunker shot on the 17th and then hit a perfect bunker shot on the 18th to get up and down for birdie.
Nick Taylor finished the week at 16 before winning the second playoff hole
Taylor appeared to have lost his chances, missing a pair of four-foot birdies and trailing by two, only to make an eagle at the last in dramatic fashion, while Spawn failed to convert a birdie at the final fifth to join the play. -off, and Jaeger also had to settle for the final paragraph.
“I’m a little surprised that it worked out this way,” Taylor said. “I’ve been jumping out there for a year. It’s always been so hectic here, but I’ve been doing a really good job of just staying in there.” for, in the end, really good things happened.”
Eric Cole tied for fifth, while Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was tied for sixth in the group and England’s Harry Hall was tied for 10th on Sunday after a one-under 69. Hideki Matsuyama, who won at Kapalua last week with a PGA Tour record 35 points , closed with a 66 to finish in a tie for 16th.
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