On the NFL’s Wild Card Weekend, it was only fitting the Sony Open in Hawaii had a playoff of its own.
And when there’s a playoff with Nick Taylor involved, watch out.
A battle to the bitter end, Taylor bested Nico Echavarria on the second extra hole at Waialae Country Club, finishing at 16 under, but then birding both playoff holes.
MORE: Final results, payouts from the Sony Open in Hawaii
“I’m a bit stunned this worked out this way,” Taylor said after a final-round 65.
In playoffs, Taylor famously holed a 72-foot walk-off eagle to win the 2023 Canadian Open win and had another flair for the dramatic at last year’s WM Phoenix Open. It was deja vu in Honolulu.
Taylor, who started the day two shots back and fired a back-nine 31, chipped in for eagle on the par-5 18th from 59 feet after receiving a drop for hitting the grandstand with his approach.
“In that situation—all I was thinking was hole it,“ said Taylor, who earned a spot in the Masters with the win. “I felt like par or birdie wasn't going to change a whole lot with Nico having a birdie chance there.“
INCREDIBLE! 🤯🦅 NICK TAYLOR CHIP-IN EAGLE ON 18 TIES THE LEAD!
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 13, 2025
📺 Golf Channel | @SonyOpenHawaii pic.twitter.com/1wwquQnID3
To open the playoff, the 36-year-old Canadian left his approach short but got up and down for birdie, holing a 10-footer to stay alive, while Echavarria, hit his second shot to the fringe en route to a matching birdie.
On the second go-around, things didn’t start well for Taylor. He hit his tee shot into the left fairway bunker, and his second shot fell 46 yards short of the hole. He claimed the victory, though, by knocking his chip to 2 feet as Echavarria three-putted.
“I misjudged the lag putt on the last hole,” Echavarria, a two-time Tour winner, said after his final-round 65. “I didn’t think it was going to be that slow. Didn’t consider the wind. 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.”
However, most of the day it seemed inconceivable that neither J.J. Spaun, the 54-hole leader, nor Stephen Jaeger wouldn’t at least be in the playoff.
With Jaeger on his tail, Spaun kept himself alive with his putter. The two were tied for the lead with three holes left but Jaeger, a 35-year-old German, lost his tee ball by hooking his shot into the trees. He salvaged bogey but didn’t make up the stroke on the last two holes.
“I was kind of scrambling a little bit some holes,” Jaeger said. “The one on 16 I would like to have back. Wrong hole to hit that shot.”
Spaun, a 34-year-old American, bogeyed the penultimate hole, but had a chance to enter the playoff with an 11-footer for birdie. The 2022 Valero Texas Open winner pushed his attempt to the right, though.
“I’m proud that I was able to like hang in there and give myself a chance feeling as uncomfortable as I did off the tee around this place,” Spaun said.
Echavarria was in the mix all afternoon and got to 16 under with a birdie on the 72nd hole despite the 30-year-old Colombian hitting his approach in the left greenside bunker.
But he ultimately fell victim to another playoff masterclass by Taylor.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Nick Taylor Wins Another Dramatic Playoff, This Time at the Sony Open .
