‘ It could have been better’ for B. C.’ s Taylor
Rookie finishes Whistling Straits at four- over- par for the week
It wasn’t quite a race, and only barely a competition.
But Nick Taylor finally got the better of Whistling Straits on Sunday morning — by a single stroke — finishing his PGA Championship week with a round of 71 that took a brisk three hours, 45 minutes to complete.
He birdied the 16th, parred the difficult par- 3 17th and made a miraculous par save from shin- high rough short of the 18th green to be able to walk off with something like a smile.
The PGA Tour rookie from Abbotsford, B. C., finished at fouroverpar 292 for the week.
“Playing four rounds ( in a major) is always good,” Taylor said. “Tough golf course. I had some spurts of good golf. But I played all the easy holes terribly. I played 11 one- overpar for the week, probably lost four shots to the field there. Same thing with the first hole.” He bogeyed No. 1 all four days. “That was kind of the story ( of his week), get off to a rough start and have to fight back. I’m happy today, but it could have been better.”
Asked if he had any advice on handling the conditions for those contenders playing later in the day, he smiled.
“They’re playing better than I am, so I don’t need to tell them anything,” he said. “The par- 3s you
have to miss them in the right spot. No. 17, the wind’s blowing hard right to left so you have to start it pretty far right.”
He was set for a Sunday night charter to Greensboro, N. C., for this week’s Wyndham Championship, the final tune- up before the FedEx Cup playoffs.
FUNNY OLD GAME: Taylor won $ 18,200 for his tie for 68th with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and 2013 PGA champion Jason Dufner. Among those he beat was J. J. Henry, who won a PGA Tour event last week, and two former Canadian Open winners, Carl Pettersson and Sean O’Hair.
NO JOY FOR D. J.: So you want to make a run at the leaders in the final round of a major, and you start with a quadruple- bogey eight on the first hole. That was Dustin Johnson on Sunday. His first five shots: Bunker, rough, bunker, rough, bunker.
Then he played the next 15 holes eight- under- par, including eagles at both back- nine par- 5s, and shot 69.
“What a day,” he said. “After the start I had, I mean, I just pushed it a little bit to the right on the first hole, one foot in the bunker, one foot out. I actually thought I hit a great shot from where I was. I was like 130 ( to the) hole. I had a sand wedge. I hit it and then somehow it went 160 yards over the green and then made a mess of it from there.
“But what a comeback today. I
played really well from then on into the house. Definitely proud about that.”
RUSTY RORY: “I guess, if I’m looking at it as a whole, I feel like I’ve done well to come back and shoot the scores that I have,” McIlroy said after a closing 69 to finish nine- under- par on the week and 17th overall.
“If I was to take back anything of this week, it would just be probably that second day when we teed off in benign conditions in the morning and I didn’t take advantage of that.”
He was speaking before it was official that Jordan Spieth had taken over from him as the No. 1- ranked player in the world.
ALL ABOUT DAY: Sunday’s victory in the PGA was the fifth by an Australian, following Steve Elkington ( 1995), Wayne Brady ( 1990), David Graham ( 1979) and Jim Ferrier ( 1947).
He is the fifth 20- something in the last six years to have won the PGA. Others were Martin Kaymer ( 25 in 2010), Keegan Bradley ( 25 in 2011), and McIlroy ( 23 in 2012, 25 in 2014).
DAY’S OK: The champion is popular among his peers and many expressed their happiness at Jason Day’s victory.
“What’s impressive about his game is that he plays well at a variety of golf courses,” said Phil Mickelson, who tied for 18th after a closing 69.
“He plays well at the Masters, he plays well here, he played well at St. Andrews, he just plays well on a variety of golf courses and conditions. That says a lot about him.”