At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2019 Nick Taylor and his wife, Andie, posted a birth announcement for their coming-soon son.
A year later the Taylors left with their son in tow, plus something they didn’t necessarily count on – the trophy.
Taylor – who grew up playing junior golf against fellow Canadian PGA Tour winner Adam Hadwin in Abbotsford, B.C., a friendship that remains to this day – won the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by four shots over Kevin Streelman. He was paired with Phil Mickelson for Sunday’s finale but Taylor held his ground, finishing at 2-under for the day to Mickelson’s 2-over.
It was Taylor’s second PGA Tour victory (his first came in 2014 at the Sanderson Farms Championship) and the win all-but-guaranteed him a spot in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame whenever he decides to put a bow on his career.
BIG REWARDS
Taylor earned $1.4 million for his efforts that week and a spot in the Masters – his first. Although that event would end up taking place in November and not its traditional April time slot, it was still a special reward for Taylor, who had never even been to Augusta, Georgia, let alone played the golf course (Taylor made the cut and ended up T29).
This year’s Pebble Beach event will be unique, as for the first time in the tournament’s history there will be no Pro-Am portion.
The long-time event, formerly hosted by Bing Crosby, has always attracted stars from Hollywood, the sports world, and movers-and-shakers in business to test their mettle between the ropes. Due to COVID-19 there will be no celebs, and the event – which usually goes on a three-course rotation – will only be played across two courses.
However, despite the changes to the production of the event, one thing hasn’t changed: a Canadian is the defending champion.
TAYLOR TALKS ABOUT HIS WIN
“Going back as the defending champion… a lot of those good memories are going to come back. There has been a lot that’s happened in the world since then,” Taylor said with a laugh, “but I think it’ll be really fun to go back and re-live those memories and play the golf course again.
“It’ll bring back a lot of fun energy and good memories and my game seems like it’s getting into form, so hopefully I can go back and defend.”
Taylor has started 2021 off well. He’s made three straight cuts since January including at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (where he earned a spot in the limited-field event thanks to his Pebble Beach triumph last year), the Sony Open in Hawaii where he held the 36-hole lead and finished T11, and The American Express, where he was in second place heading into the weekend.
“There’s been a lot of positives [so far in 2021]. Even dating back to the Masters I felt like I found something there over the weekend. The combination of some ‘feels’ of my golf swing and the drills and direction I’ve gone in has been good,” said Taylor. “You’d think your short game would be rusty coming off a long break, but it’s been really strong since starting there. I’ve made very few bogeys and I’ve got up-and-down on par fives for birdies, it’s just been a nice start.”
WHAT’S IN THE BAG
Taylor has been a long-time member of Team TaylorMade. “The first set of clubs I bought in high school were a set of TaylorMade irons.” During his victory in 2020, Taylor had a unique set up to his bag – he had a TaylorMade SIM 4-iron and a TaylorMade P770 4-iron both in his set. The SIM iron he used more as a driving iron, hitting it “a ton” at Pebble Beach, while the P770 he used in more ‘normal’ situations.
It seems like the long-time relationship between equipment company and PGA Tour golfer has been, well, tailor made, for success.
This year Taylor, who is not one for big bag changes, has made two significant ones: he swapped out his TaylorMade M2 driver (which was released in 2017) for the new TaylorMade SIM2 driver. He’s also put a rescue club, the SIM2, in his bag for the first time.
“I’ve gained probably 2-3 miles per hour ball speed and I’ve been able to reach that ‘extra gear,’” Taylor said about his switch to the SIM2 driver. “If I can get more speed, that’s a big deal for me. It’s going straight as well, so there’s a reason why I switched.”
“I used a rescue early on in my career. I went into the 5-wood for a number of years and had success with that, but at the end of 2019 I went into four wedges instead of three, so I had a gap. I needed that 235-240 range club, and the hybrid fit in there perfectly,” continued Taylor. “The new SIM2… the spin numbers were great. I started using it at the Sony. It’s been good off the tee, it’s been good into par fives… and that’s what I was looking for.”
So it’s a new year, Taylor has some fresh equipment, and his son Charlie is a little older – but the Canadian has managed to get adjusted to every hurdle the world has put in front of him and his growing family over the last 12 months. Now it’s time to return to a place with good vibes all around.
- Driver: SIM2 9.5°
- Fairway Wood: SIM 15° 3Wood
- Hybrid: SIM2 19.5° Rescue
- Irons: P•770 Irons (4-5) & P•750 Irons (6-9)
- Wedges: Milled Grind 2 (48°, 52°, 56° and 60°)
- Putter: Spider Tour
- Ball: TP5