Taylor wins another playoff with clutch play on 18th

HONOLULU — Nick Taylor in a playoff is tough to beat. Getting there was hardest part for the Canadian, who delivered another highlight reel of clutch moments Sunday in the Sony Open.

Down to his last shot, Taylor chipped in from 60 feet for eagle on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae for a 5-under 65 to get into a playoff with Nico Echavarria.

He holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. And then he hit a wedge from 46 yards that was close to perfect to set up a 3-foot birdie putt for the win. The last shot might have been the easiest shot he had in the final hour.

“I’m a bit stunned this worked out this way,” Taylor said.

That was true for so many others, starting with Echavarria, the 30-year-old Chilean who delivered some big moments of his own with a 15-foot par save, a 12-foot birdie, and twice getting up-and-down from the bunker at the end for a 65 to join Taylor at 16-under 264.

Behind them were Stephan Jaeger and J.J. Spaun, and the Sony Open looked to come down to them along the back nine until Jaeger piped a drive out-of-bounds on the 16th and Spaun bogeyed from a bunker on the 17th. Both failed to birdie the par-5 18th to join the playoff.

Echavarria was surprised it was only a two-man playoff.

“If Nick doesn’t chip in, I win the tournament,” he said.

Echavarria didn’t miss a beat in his bid for a third straight year with a PGA Tour title. The bunker shot on the 18th was creative and bold for a tap-in birdie. On the 18th in the first playoff hole, his second shot looked to be about 20 feet away on the fringe for an eagle putt when the wind nudged it down the hill into the rough, forcing him to get up-and-down.

He had 40 feet on the collar for eagle on the second playoff hole at No. 18, and the first putt came out soft and was 7 feet short. He missed the birdie putt to extend the playoff.

“I misjudged the lag putt on the last hole. I didn’t think it was going to be that slow. Didn’t consider the wind,” Echavarria said. “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.”

Taylor never looked like a winner — especially after missing a pair of 4-foot birdie putts on the 15th and 16th holes — until he had a lei around his neck and the trophy in his hand. It was his fifth PGA Tour title, the last three in a playoff.