Canada's Nick Taylor has a winning formula for winter success

John Chidley-Hill · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Feb 05, 2025 6:41 PM EST | Last Updated: February 6

Canada's Nick Taylor has a cure for the mid-winter blues: winning

The mid-winter blahs are thing Nick Taylor has lone heard about.

Taylor has won 4 of his 5 vocation PGA Tour titles successful the wintertime months, astir precocious winning the Sony Open successful Hawaii connected Jan. 12 successful a playoff with Colombia's Nico Echavarria. He'll support his WM Phoenix Open title this week, which helium besides won successful a playoff, besting Charley Hoffman of the United States past year.

"It's a operation of recharging, getting immoderate rest, getting a clump of household time, but besides being motivated and moving connected the things that I privation to improve," Taylor said successful a caller video league with Canadian reporters.

Geography is simply a factor, too.

The PGA Tour starts its docket successful Hawaii and connected the westbound coast, staying successful warmer climes during the winter. As a result, Taylor won the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am successful California, the WM Phoenix Open successful Arizona, and the Sony Open successful Hawaii.

"I grew up connected a batch of these grasses and had bully results passim the year," the golfer from Abbotsford, B.C., said. "The comfortableness level is precise precocious arsenic well, truthful there's a fewer factors there."

"The past fewer years, I've decidedly motivated myself passim the off-season and came retired acceptable to go."

WATCH l Taylor wins Sony Open for 5th career PGA Tour victory:

Five different Canadians volition articulation Taylor connected TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course successful Scottsdale, Ariz.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., volition look to amended connected his No. 22 ranking successful the FedEx Cup standings, arsenic volition Adam Hadwin (100th) besides from Abbotsford, Adam Svensson (T121st) of Surrey, B.C., Mackenzie Hughes (124th) of Dundas, Ont., and Ben Silverman (168th) of Thornhill, Ont.

Taylor said that the responsibilities of being the defending champion astatine the WM Phoenix Open aren't excessively onerous compared to the RBC Canadian Open, which helium won successful 2023.

"Just a fewer much things that benignant of instrumentality your time. You've got to negociate your signifier time," said the 36-year-old. "That would beryllium the biggest difference."

"I deliberation what's bully this week, say, compared to the Canadian Open, past year, is it's the aforesaid play course, a spot that I'm comfy coming backmost to, to what I know."

More Canadians teeing off

DP World Tour

Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., volition tee it up astatine the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters astatine Doha Golf Club connected Thursday. He's 138th connected the European-based tour's rankings aft 5 events.

Korn Ferry Tour 

Third-ranked Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., leads the Canadian contingent into this week's Astara Golf Championship. He's grouped with No. 70 Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., for the archetypal 2 rounds of the lawsuit astatine Country Club de Bogota successful Colombia. Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., Matthew Anderson of Mississauga, Etienne Papineau of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald are besides successful the field.

LPGA Tour 

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is ranked 14th connected the Rolex Race to CME Globe standings heading into the Founders Cup successful Bradenton, Fla. Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton's Alena Sharp and Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., volition besides beryllium successful the archetypal regular tract lawsuit of the LPGA Tour season.