Nick Taylor Hereby Known As Mr. Clutch, Dustin Johnson Doesn't Need Practice, And The Year Of The Long Shot
It's safe to say that nobody could have predicted the exact scenario of Nick Taylor taking down Charley Hoffman in a playoff to win the WM Phoenix Open, and while that headline doesn't exactly move the needle, TPC Scottsdale delivered the dramatics yet again. Speaking of Taylor, we have to talk about this man's clutch gene and the weapon he carries around with him on the golf course; his putter.
LIV Golf is now 2-for-2 on the year in delivering great final rounds and big-name winners. A week after Joaquin Niemann defeated Sergio Garcia in Mexico, Dustin Johnson found the winner's circle in Las Vegas. He began the week by explaining he essentially didn't pick up a golf club during the offseason and now two weeks into the season he's a winner, and held off the likes of Jon Rahm, Matthew Wolff, Talor Gooch, and Peter Uihlen for win No. 3 on the Saudi-backed circuit.
LIV delivering well-known winners each week is all but inevitable given its top-heavy roster of players and 54-man fields. The cream rises to the top on the PGA Tour on a rather consistent basis as well, but not so much in 2024. The trend of long-shot winners to begin the new season has hit the absurdity level.
Before we get going in this week's edition of Par Talk, don't forget my email inbox is always open at mark.harris@outkick.com as are my messages on Twitter, @itismarkharris. Let's talk golf, and you telling me how bad my takes are is also welcome.
Nick Taylor And His Putter Are Not To Be Messed With
Heading into Sunday's action at the WM Phoenix Open, it felt like Sahith Theegala's tournament to lose. Even with back-to-back champ Scottie Scheffler within very real striking distance, it had all the makings for a redemption story for Theegala after he suffered heartbreak in the desert two years prior.
Nick Taylor, Charley Hoffman, and Scheffler's ice-cold putter had very different plans, however.
Hoffman, ranked 300th in the world entering the week, found a different gear on Sunday and was dialed beyond belief. After an eagle-birdie-birdie stretch on holes 13, 14, and 15 the WM ambassador took the role of the destined winner away from Theegala posting 21-under for the tournament.
A few groups back, Taylor was plotting his takeover. After going flag hunting on 16, Taylor made birdie on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff with Hoffman and it was at that moment his flatstick officially transformed from a putter into a weapon.
The duo headed back to the 18th tee to begin the playoff and after both hit the fairway, Hoffman snuck it just inside of Taylor with his approach shot. Taylor didn't seem to care, the Canadian walked in his birdie attempt, and you could see the confidence dripping off of him in that moment. Hoffman somehow answered by sinking his birdie putt forcing the pair back to the 18th for playoff hole No. 2.
Taylor pushed his tee shot on the second playoff hole into a fairway bunker, but when it's your day it's your day, and his ball bounced out and into the rough for what was the second such instance of the day. Hoffman somehow hit the green after he suffered a brutal break in a fairway bunker left of the fairway. The veteran missed his birdie try, setting the stage for the Canadian, and his putter delivered the goods yet again.
The win in Phoenix marked Taylor's fourth PGA Tour victory, and while four wins in 260 starts doesn't exactly jump off the page, it doesn't explain how good the man has been in the clutch.
When Taylor puts himself into contention, good things tend to happen.
Ahead of the playoff, Data Golf shared numbers that showed Taylor's success in clutch moments. Sunday marked the fourth time in his career he had entered the final round Top 5 or better after 54 holes. He came through and won the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship and did the same at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2020. He didn't manage to show his best stuff in the final round of the 2020 Safeway Open en route to a T-10 finish, but with his Phoenix Open win he's now three-for-four in those big-time moments. Not too bad.
Those numbers don't even reflect his RBC Canadian Open win a year ago when he took down Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff with his entire country depending on him to win Canada's marquee event.
Taylor's best finish in a major is a T-29 in the 2020 Masters, but I wouldn't be stunned if he picks off a major victory in his career. If he can get himself on the first page of a leaderboard heading into Sunday, he, and everyone else, has to love his chances.
It Didn't Take Long For Dustin Johnson To Find His Form
I'm not going to lie, I'm kicking myself for not sprinkling a little cash on Dustin Johnson to win LIV Las Vegas this weekend.
Prior to the start of LIV's second event of the year, Johnson revealed that he didn't practice, like at all, during the offseason and that he legitimately surprised himself with his level of play in the season opener in Mexico.
"I spent a lot of time at home with the kids, not much time at the golf course," Johnson told the media in Vegas. "Sometimes it's good to take some time off, but I practice a little bit, right before we went to Mexico and then I worked pretty hard in Mexico at my game. I was pretty surprised by my finish last week. I'm not going to lie."
When an all-world talent such as Johnson reveals a new level of nonchalantness that's when they're at their most dangerous. DJ not having a care in the world at an event in Las Vegas no less was the tell-all sign that he was going to be in contention come Sunday.
Johnson fired an 8-under 62 on Saturday to give himself a two-shot lead heading into the final round, and while he got off to a bit of a slow start letting the likes of Wolff, Gooch, and Rahm flirt with the top of the leaderboard, he went on to birdie three straight holes on the back nine en route to a one-shot victory.
LIV now has a couple of weeks off before heading to Jeddah in March. It's a safe bet that Johnson won't be doing too much practicing during the break, which is obviously the smart move for his sake.
When Is A Favorite Going To Win On The PGA Tour This Season?
We've had six PGA Tour events in 2024 - including multiple signature events - and all six winners have had at least 80-1 odds in most sportsbooks ahead of the tournament.
When looking at the list of winners this season and their Official World Golf Ranking prior to finding the winner's circle, things are put into an even wonkier perspective.
Sentry Tournament of Champions: Chris Kirk (52)
Sony Open: Grayson Murray (132)
The American Express: Nick Dunlap (4,129)
Farmers Insurance Open: Matthieu Pavon (78)
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Wyndham Clark (10)
WM Phoenix Open: Nick Taylor (55)
Clark's win at Pebble Beach is the clear exception to a non-favorite finding the winner's circle this season, but even he opened that week up with around 80-1 odds to hoist the trophy.
At this point last year Jon Rahm had already won two events with Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler picking up wins of their own as well.
Surely this week's Genesis Invitational will produce a ‘favorite’ winner, but we've been saying that same thing for a month now.
The only thing we do know about this week is that Tiger Woods is in the field and will not win the golf tournament.