HONOLULU At the Sony Open, Canadian Nick Taylor had another spectacular finish on Sunday, chipping in for eagle on the 18th hole to advance to the playoffs and defeating Nico Echavarria with a brilliant pitch that set up a birdie.
Taylor missed two short birdie opportunities in the closing moments and never looked like a winner at Waialae. His 60-foot eagle chip that rolled in on the par-5 closing hole for a 5-under 65 abruptly changed that.
Echavarria joined him on the 18th with a 65 and a fantastic bunker shot for a tap-in birdie. They were 16-under 264 at the end.
Taylor has won the last three playoffs and has five PGA Tour victories. To stay alive, he needed to make a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th. Playing the 18th again, Taylor missed the cup by 46 yards after going from a fairway bunker. His pitch, which landed on the front of the green and rolled just within three feet because to the wind and grain, was nearly flawless.
Echavarria missed the birdie putt because his 40-foot eagle putt was 7 feet short while he was barely on the collar at the back of the green.
After a poor finish to the previous season, the win gives Taylor another trip to the Masters. Last year, he had made critical putts to win the Phoenix Open in a playoff. He struck a 70-foot eagle putt at home during the 2023 Canadian Open, which was his biggest playoff victory.
Both J.J. Spaun and Stephan Jaeger had many regrets when they departed Waialae. They put up a fantastic display until the last three holes, and from the moment they turned, it appeared as though they would compete to determine the victor.
Spaun made a par putt from just within 30 feet to tie the lead after Jaeger nailed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th to catch him.
With the exception of an iron off the 15th tee, Jaeger failed to hit a fairway on the back nine, and it ultimately caught up with him at the end. On the 16th, he struck a car to cut off the dogleg, but it traveled so far to the left that it was never located and was assumed to be out-of-bounds.
I want the one from 16 to return. Jaeger stated, “That shot was in the wrong hole.”
After missing a 10-foot birdie putt that would have given him a lead, Jaeger did well to make par off a provisional ball to remain only one behind Spaun. On the 17th, Spaun then made bogey from the bunker.
In the meantime, Taylor and Echavarria came together in unlikely ways. A 12-foot birdie on the 16th, a 15-foot par save on the 15th, a par save from a bunker on the 17th, and a spectacular bunker shot across the 18th to get up-and-down for birdie were all made by Echavarria.
After missing two 4-foot birdie putts, Taylor appeared to have squandered his chances. On the 18th hole, he holed his 60-foot chip for eagle, behind by two strokes.
To qualify for the playoffs, Jaeger and Spaun have to make a birdie on the par-5 final hole. Jaeger missed the bunker after hitting 3-wood off the tee, and he was left in the rough 178 yards out after his second shot struck the lip. He made par for a 67 after going over the green.
Because the pin was cut to the right with the wind behind him, Spaun from the 18th fairway missed to the right, which is the worst position to be. He shot 68 after missing the birdie putt after doing well to get it to 10 feet.
Those four were the only players who posed a real threat at the end of a day when 15 players were separated by three shots at the beginning.
In an attempt to become just the third player to sweep Hawaii, Hideki Matsuyama, who won last week at Kapalua with a PGA Tour record 35-under par, closed with a 66, finishing at 11 under and tied for 16th.
— AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson
