PATIENT DEMEANOUR SERVES TAYLOR WELL
B.C. golfer looks to repeat at Pebble Beach after rebounding from some tough times
It's one of the most contentious topics in golf, but the defending champion at this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am didn't shy away.
“I really don't understand the whole uproar,” Canadian Nick Taylor told Postmedia by phone.
He wasn't talking about rolling back golf equipment, or allowing rangefinders in tournaments, or even Patrick Reed's latest escapades. It's a chilly week in California on the Monterey Peninsula, so Taylor was talking hoodies.
“I have one, but I haven't busted it out in competition,” he said of the sweaters that are dividing the golf world. “I do enjoy it in casual rounds, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I may this week, if it gets cold enough.”
It doesn't take long to recognize that Taylor isn't really the uproar type. The amiable 32-year-old carries the same measured, patient demeanour in conversation that he's shown on the golf course over seven years on the PGA Tour.
Taylor returns to Pebble Beach this week, where last year he led wire to wire and took down Phil Mickelson on a blustery Sunday to win by four strokes. The victory was the Abbotsford, B.C. native's second on the PGA Tour, making him the first of his generation of Canadian men to win twice on the game's biggest stage. That's one ahead of fellow Canucks Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners. But Taylor didn't have much opportunity to needle his pals before a worldwide pandemic set in.
“There wasn't a lot of time for bragging rights right after I had won, and then when I came back in the summer, everyone was whooping me,” Taylor said. “But to get a second win, and kind of back up that first one, meant a lot to me, proved that I could do it again. There was a long time period in there where I was in contention a little bit, but definitely not as much as I would want.”
Taylor's first win came in just his fourth start during his rookie PGA Tour season in 2014 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. It was a dream start to a career in the big leagues, but it was no easy road to get there. After becoming the world No. 1-ranked amateur in 2009 and winning the Ben Hogan award as best player in U.S. college in 2010, Taylor turned pro and found that immediate success wasn't in the cards, spending three years in Canada on what's now the Mackenzie Tour. In fact, Taylor's difficulty making the jump from topranked amateur to the PGA Tour was a catalyst for Golf Canada to rethink its developmental plan and offer its players increased support throughout the transition from amateur to pro.
In the years that followed his 2014 win, Taylor worked his way into contention enough to stay on tour, but not as much as he would have liked. In 2018 and 2019, he finished the season narrowly inside the all-important top 125 needed to maintain full playing privileges.
“Well, you're trying to win when you tee it up every week, but looking back, there were a couple of years where I was really fighting for my card,” Taylor said. “It was a strange mentality to have and not really one that you want. You're almost worried about your job, let alone trying to win a tournament, and that's when you can get lost out here sometimes.”
If Taylor's patience was tested over the years, he wasn't letting on. Despite great expectations after a stellar amateur career, and seeing the immediate success this latest generation of young players is having, Taylor maintains a great perspective on all he's accomplished.
“That six-year gap, to the average fan, seems like a long time between wins,” he said. “But two wins, it's not easy. The competition is very deep and it's very difficult to win. If you told me when I left college that 10 years into turning pro I'd be out on tour for seven years and have a couple of wins? Now, you have high hopes and dreams, but that would be hard to turn down.”
Taylor looks to defend his title at Pebble Beach beginning Thursday at 1:09 p.m. ET playing alongside Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler.