HONOLULU, Hawaii — Canada’s Nick Taylor knocked in a birdie putt from less than 3 feet away on the second playoff hole to win the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
PGA and British Open champion Xander Schauffele withdrew from The American Express for medical reasons, the second highly-ranked player who had to pull out of the third PGA Tour event of the season.
Taylor, who had a dramatic eagle to conclude the final round, secured his fifth PGA Tour victory after matching Colombia’s Nico Echavarria with 16-under-par 264s.
They both turned in 5-under 65s in the final round. “I’m a bit stunned this worked out this way,” Taylor said according to AP.
Taylor and Echavarria were forced to repeat the par-5 No. 18 after they both birdied it on the first extra hole. Taylor made a 10-foot putt and Echavarria followed by draining a 5 1/2-footer.
Third-round leader J.J. Spaun (68) and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (67) shared third place at 15 under. They were in the final grouping and had chances to join the leaders, but both finished with pars.
Spaun, seeking his second victory on the PGA Tour, went to the par-3 17th hole with the lead, but he bogeyed there. By the time he reached the 18th tee, he had fallen behind Taylor and Echavarria.
Spaun played the first eight holes in 3 under and then recorded eight consecutive pars before the misstep on No. 17. Jaeger stayed in contention despite a lost tee shot on No. 16. He pulled off a bogey on the hole.
On the second playthrough, Echavarria missed an 8 1/2-footer for birdie to set up Taylor for the win, Reuters reported.
Echavarria, 30, was trying to post a PGA Tour victory for the third consecutive year. Taylor’s chip-in from the fringe for an eagle 3 on No. 18 catapulted him into contention before waiting for others to finish to see if it held up.
That put him 6 under for the final 11 holes of regulation. It also was redemption after he missed back-to-back birdie putts for less than 5 feet away on the back side.
Echavarria recovered after bogeys on his first two holes. He had birdies on Nos. 16 and 18.
Echavarria was surprised it was only a two-man playoff. “If Nick doesn’t chip in, I win the tournament,” Echavarria 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.
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