This wild stat shows just how slim the chances were of Nick Taylor winning the Sony Open – Australian Golf Digest
- by Admin
- January 13, 2025
[PHOTO: Maddie Meyer]
Nick Taylor, standing on the 18th tee today at the Sony Open in Hawaii, essentially had no shot to win, according to computations from Data Golf. Forty-five minutes later he had captured his fifth PGA Tour victory.
The company’s website said that Taylor had a 0.4 percent chance to win while he was on the 72nd hole. That’s basically a one-in-250 chance.
Taylor was just 0.4% to win (1 in 250) when he got to 18 tee.
Spaun/Jaeger both -16 thru 15
Echavarria -15 thru 16
Taylor -14 thru 17— data golf (@DataGolf) January 13, 2025
Yes, the others around him faltered down the stretch, but Taylor created some heroics of his own. First, he chipped in for eagle on the par-5 home hole, putting him in the clubhouse at 16-under-par total.
Nico Echavarria finished par, birdie to tie Taylor in the clubhouse. Then J.J. Spaun and Stephan Jaeger, who were two shots ahead of Taylor when the statistics spit out the 0.4 percentage, both played the last three holes in one-over-par. Neither man birdied the relatively easy par-5 18th hole. Spaun finished par, bogey, par. Jaeger finished bogey, par, par.
They both fell one shot short of the playoff after leading most of the day.
A chip-in eagle to tie the lead!@NTaylorGolf59 comes up clutch at the last @SonyOpenHawaii. pic.twitter.com/tNeTa9xQKM
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 13, 2025
Taylor and Echavarria both made birdie on the first playoff hole – playing the 18th continuously until there was a winner – then Taylor pitched his third shot close for an easy birdie the second time around, while Echavarria missed a birdie attempt from seven feet.
Taylor, 36, won the WM Phoenix Open last year, his fourth tour title, but has struggled since then, and even missed the International Presidents Cup team last September in his beloved Canada. Since that win he has failed to collect another top-10 finish and has missed 11 cuts.
None of that matters now, however, and the fact he had only a 0.4 percent chance to win is nothing more than a fun fact that can amuse Taylor while he’s holding his trophy.
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January 13, 2025Nick Taylor emerges an unlikely playoff winner in the Sony Open in Hawaii – Australian Golf Digest
