'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Nick Taylor won the 2024 WM Phoenix Open on Sunday. The Canadian golfer beat Charley Hoffman in a playoff at TPC Scottsdale. The win saw the 2023 RBC Canadian Open take $1,584,000 million from the event’s $8,800,000 purse along with 500 FedEx Cup points. He also jumped an incredible 27 places in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Taylor is currently 28th (his best OWGR rank to date) on OWGR. Notably, he had started the season ranked 54th. However, he dropped a place in recent weeks and came into the Arizona weekend at 55th. The 35-year-old won the People’s Open and leapt to the 28th spot. He took Russell Henley’s spot and pushed him down a place on the rankings.
Taylor currently sits behind World No.27 Brooks Koepka. Meanwhile, runner-up Hoffman had an even bigger leap on the OWGR. The PGA Tour veteran, who started the event ranked 300, jumped a whopping 192 places on the rankings and settled himself at 108.
It is pertinent to note that Taylor wasn’t a favorite to win the WM Phoenix Open. He came into the event with a +10000 pre-tournament odds at BetMGM. Meanwhile, Hoffman came with +30000 odds.
Nick Taylor wins the 2024 WM Phoenix Open
Taylor carded a 6-under 65 in his third round and finished the Phoenix Open outing at 21-under 263. However, he was only able to match Hoffman’s score. The duo entered a playoff where the Canadian beat the 47-year-old American. He ended Hoffman’s underdog run with an 11-foot birdie putt.
Speaking to the media after his WM Phoenix Open win, Nick Taylor said (0:14):
"I had good vibes all week after the start. I was obviously in a position to keep going but it was a pretty tough round to follow. Long two days, I think I played 30 holes on two different days and maybe 12 on the other couple. But I didn't have it early on today and was just trying to hang in there as long as I could… The finish was pretty dreamlike.”
Furthermore, Taylor stated that his wins at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Open and last year's Canadian Open acted as ‘stepping stones’ in his career.
Listed below is the top half of the final WM Phoenix Open leaderboard:
- WIN - Nick Taylor
- 2 - Charley Hoffman
- T3 - Scottie Scheffler
- Sam Burns
- 5 - Sahith Theegala
- T6 - Jordan Spieth
- Maverick McNealy
- T8 - Adam Scott
- Kurt Kitayama
- Cameron Young
- Andrew Novak
- T12 - Justin Thomas
- Doug Ghim
- Si Woo Kim
- T15 - Davis Thompson
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- T17 - Harris English
- Keith Mitchell
- Adam Schenk
- Tom Kim
- Tom Hoge
- T22 - Brendon Todd
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Emiliano Grillo
- Justin Suh
- Jhonattan Vegas
- Denny McCarthy
After a successful WM Phoenix Open outing, the PGA Tour now heads to Los Angeles for The Genesis Invitational 2024, which will mark Tiger Woods' season debut.
