Nick Taylor started the day two shots off the lead and made five birdies and two bogeys before chipping in from 60 feet for eagle at the par-5 18th. He closed with a 65 to reach 16-under and enter a playoff at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Nico Echavarria made three bogeys and also closed with a 65 for his shot at victory but the Colombian parred the first extra hole at the 18th while Taylor made a birdie to win his fifth PGA Tour title.
“It was a grind of a day,” said Taylor. “I didn’t really look at the leaderboards until maybe 13 or 14. Had a sense of what was going on. When I missed the short putts on 15 and 16 I really thought I needed to get to 17. That’s kind of my number I had to start the day.
“You know, the chip-in on 18 was awesome. In that situation I think was — all I was thinking was hole it. I felt like par or birdie wasn’t going to change a whole lot with Nico having a birdie chance there.
“Read it great and went in, and in the playoff to have those two nice up and downs to hang in there. Nico was hitting it great all day and knew he wasn’t going to give it to me. Fortunate he missed that putt there.”
The Canadian improves to 3-0 in playoffs on Tour, each of his last three wins came in a playoff and this is his third consecutive season with a PGA Tour victory. He is now fully exempt on Tour through the 2027 season.
“I think I enjoy being in [playoffs]. For whatever reason my mind gets clear in those situations of the shot I’m just trying to hit,” said Taylor.
“It’s kind of like a match play situation. I feel like I’ve always enjoyed match play when I was growing up and had success as well just trying to hit each shot at hand.
“I’ve worked on that the last couple years of why in those situations am I good and other situations where I am not consistent if I’m in 30th or something.
“We will work on that, but nice start to the year obviously.”
Echavarria earned his fourth top-two finish on Tour in 63 starts and his third top-two finish in his last six starts.
54-hole leader J.J. Spaun of the USA finished T3 at 15-under after closing with a 68 having made three birdies and a bogey and matched his low 72-hole score on Tour (265; sixth instance overall).
Germany’s Stephan Jaeger also finished T3 at 15-under having also made a bogey; his fifth top-three finish on Tour in 153 starts.
American Eric Cole made a bogey and a double bogey at the par-4 6th to close with a 67 and solo fifth place at 14-under.
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The Sony Open in Hawaii, the second event of the 2025 PGA Tour Season and first Full-Field event, marks the first opportunity for players to earn FedExCup points towards the Aon Swing 5.
The Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5 are eligibility pathways for players, not already qualified, to play their way into Signature Events via the FedExCup standings.
The top five players, not otherwise exempt, who earn the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open will qualify for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, while the top five players not otherwise exempt who earn the most FedExCup points during those three events and the WM Phoenix Open, will qualify for The Genesis Invitational.
The Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational was determined through the 2024 FedExCup Fall standings.
