Canadian Nick Taylor ends bizarre major championship streak at the Masters
Heading to the weekend at a major championship is something the five-time PGA Tour winner had failed to do in nine consecutive tries.
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AUGUSTA, Ga. — On Friday at the Masters, Nick Taylor ended one of the more confounding major championship streaks.
While an action-packed second round was going on a the top of the leaderboard, the 36-year-old Canadian quietly carded a 1-under par 71 to head to the weekend at even-par.
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Canadian Nick Taylor ends bizarre major championship streak at the Masters Back to video
Heading to the weekend at a major championship is something the five-time PGA Tour winner had failed to do in nine consecutive tries — and something that unavoidably was on his mind this week.
“Thoughts are thoughts. It’s hard to stop thoughts,” Taylor said. “But if you can recognize them, be aware of it and get back to what you’re trying to focus on is definitely what I’ve been working on the last handful of months.”
The Canadian Taylor has a well-earned reputation as a clutch player and a closer on Sundays, but it’s tough to accomplish that from your couch on the weekend.
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“I knew coming in I felt like I was in a better spot mentally. My game was as good as it’s ever been,” Taylor said after Friday’s round. “To be able to perform when you feel that way, hopefully it unlocks it. Saturday always has been a fun day for me. I feel like getting over that Friday cut loosens you up and you can play as free as you can.”
Taylor stumbled out of the gates on Thursday, sitting at 3-over par after 10 holes at Augusta National. Nine months after his most recent missed opportunity at a major championship, the here-we-go-again thoughts were unavoidable.
But he refused to let past failures dictate his future and didn’t make another bogey until his final hole on Friday.
“If you hang in there mentally as long as you can, hopefully good things happen, but if you start pressing out here, that’s when things can start going a little sideways,” he said.
Some nifty scrambling around Amen Corner kept his second round in the red, including a 12-foot par putt at the famous par-3 12th hole that was punctuated with a fist pump and broad smile to caddie Dave Markle.
Taylor will be long remembered by Canadian golf fans after being immortalized in the RBC Canadian Open logo after making his 72-foot, tournament-winning, drought-busting eagle putt at Oakdale in 2023, but this late-career renaissance has brought even greater goals into play for the Abbotsford, B.C., native.
If he ever is going to join Mike Weir as the only Canadian man to win a major championship, ending his puzzling streak of missed cuts had to be the first step.
“It’s never the objective but it certainly has crossed my mind,” Taylor said of making the cut. “Today coming in I wasn’t trying to protect necessarily, but it’s just tricky out there. You don’t want to have your foot on the gas because you’ve also got to be mindful of where the things end, pick your targets, commit to it.
“To have just one bogey there (today) is pretty good.”
Taylor made 14 consecutive pars on Saturday, before bogeying Nos. 15 and 16 to head to Sunday at 2-over.
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