SCOTTSDALE – It may be a stressful way to win a golf tournament, but Nick Taylor has embraced becoming the PGA Tour’s “Mr. Play-off”.

He won the Sony Open in Hawaii in a play-off in January, and he is returning to the site of another extra-holes victory when he defends at the Phoenix Open this week in Scottsdale, Arizona.

A five-time winner on tour, Taylor has gone to a play-off to win each of his past three titles.

He made an improbable 72-foot eagle on the fourth play-off hole at the 2023 Canadian Open to beat Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, a career highlight for Taylor as he became the first Canadian to win his national open since 1954.

Eight months later, he held off Charley Hoffman at the Phoenix Open by making birdie on the second play-off hole.

“I guess you get confidence in those situations the more you pull out successful outcomes,” Taylor said on Feb 4.

“But I’m just as nervous in those situations as probably anybody else.

“I feel like I have more clarity in those play-offs of what I’m trying to do. Anything you try to work in golf, if you’re over a swing or a putt and there’s doubt or there’s indecision, it’s probably not going to end up well, and for some reason in those situations, I have a lot of clarity and no doubt.”

Taylor has a 3-0 record in play-off situations on tour. He pointed out that if each of those three went the other way, his career would be “a different story”.

The 36-year-old is +5000 to win this week at BetMGM as he faces a strong field headlined by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, both back-to-back champions in Phoenix in prior years.

If Taylor is to do the same, he said he will need to keep a winning mindset.

“I think so much in golf is taking advantage of the opportunities that you’re given, from trying to get your PGA Tour card that I’ve had to deal with in the past or keeping your card... I feel like in those situations in the past, I’ve been able to take care of or take advantage of those opportunities,” he said.

“Again, I just feel like I have more clarity when I’m trying to win. It’s not necessarily I’m stepping on the tee expecting to win... but just get back to the simple things of the process, and I’ve done a really good job when I get in those moments.” REUTERS

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