Nick Taylor joins Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson on exclusive list with Sony Open playoff win

Nick Taylor finds himself in rarefied air after his thrilling playoff win over Nico Echavarria on Sunday at the Sony Open.

Taylor needed to drain a miraculous chip on the 72nd hole at Waialae Country Club to find a way into a playoff. But once Taylor reached the sudden-death playoff, he did what he has done in each of the past two seasons — win.

Both Taylor and Echavarria birdied the first playoff hole before the Canadian got the best of the 30-year-old Colombian with a birdie on the second hole to clinch his fifth PGA Tour victory and third consecutive season with a playoff win.

In 2023, Taylor drained a 72-foot putt to beat Tommy Fleetwood at the RBC Canadian Open. The Canadian once again rose to the moment last season when he bested Charley Hoffman in a two-hole playoff to win a Signature Event at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

By beating Echavarria in extra holes on Sunday, Taylor joined an exclusive group of players to win a PGA Tour event in a playoff in three consecutive seasons. According to golf stats guru Justin Ray, Taylor is the first player to achieve the feat since Bubba Watson did it between 2010-12. Per Ray, only five players have won in a playoff in three consecutive seasons since 1999. That list includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

In 1999, Woods defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez on the first playoff hole to win the WGC-American Express Championship. Woods beat Bob May in a playoff to win the 2000 PGA Championship the following year. He also beat Ernie Els in a playoff at the 2000 Mercedes Championship. Then, in 2001, Woods beat Jim Furyk in an epic seven-hole playoff battle to win the 2001 WGC-NEC Invitational.

Taylor struggled last season after winning in Phoenix. After that playoff win, he carded just one top-10, which came at the team event at the Zurich Classic. Taylor’s inconsistent season saw him fail to crack the top 50 on the FedEx Cup list and forced Mike Weir to leave him off the Presidents Cup team.

The 36-year-old Canadian worked hard during the fall and hopes to be more consistent in 2025.

If he can put himself in the hunt more often, he believes he’ll start to stack wins. He’s already proven he has a clutch gene that delivers in big moments.

“I feel like I can rise to the occasion and it’s pretty fun,” Taylor said Sunday after the win.

It’s never bad to find your name on a list with Woods and Mickelson, either.