Nick Taylor claimed his fifth PGA Tour win after a playoff against Nico Echavarria following a fascinating final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
It was JJ Spaun who began the day with a one-shot lead over Stephen Jaeger, Patrick Fishburn and Eric Cole.
For so long, it looked like the title would come down to either him or Jaeger as the pair jostled for supremacy punctuated by some extraordinary putting as the likes of Taylor and Echavarria remained in the shadows.
Spaun set the tone with a stunning birdie from 29 feet on the third to take him two ahead of the German, but Jaeger responded with a 16-foot birdie on the fifth. On the sixth, Jaeger did it again, this time from 20 feet, although Spaun’s short birdie putt maintained his one-shot advantage. Spaun resumed his putting masterclass on the eighth from 20 feet for his third birdie of the day. Jaeger then birdied the same hole to remain one behind.
Meanwhile, at the turn, Taylor was one-under for the day after three birdies and two bogeys to sit four off the pace, while Echavarria recovered from successive bogeys on the opening two holes to respond with four birdies by the 10th to stand three off the summit.
Further back, Spaun and Jaeger’s rounds continued blemish-free, with successive pars until the 14th, when this time from over 30 feet, another birdie from Jaeger moved him to 16-under. That left Spaun facing a putt from a similar distance to save par. He holed it to stay bogey-free for the round as the two refused to give an inch.
Birdie from Jaeger, par save from Spaun 💪The two are tied at the top with four to play @SonyOpenHawaii. pic.twitter.com/99umrX4Am5January 12, 2025
All the while, Taylor and Echavarria remained in contention. Taylor was helped by successive birdies on the 10th and 11th while Echavarria completed his fifth birdie in six holes at the 12th. Keegan Bradley and Eric Cole, who was in the final group with Spaun and Jaeger, were also in the hunt.
On the par-4 16th, Spaun appeared to have a decisive chance after Jaeger settled for bogey thanks to a wild tee shot that went out of bounds. Jaeger did well to limit the damage with an up and down from 17 feet. That dropped him back to 15-under with Echavarria before Spaun missed his birdie attempt to give him a one-shot lead with two to play.
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