The PGA Tour remained in Hawaii this week for the Sony Open. As the golfers made the turn on Sunday, the result was up in the air with JJ Spaun, Stephen Jaeger, Nico Echavarria, and Nick Taylor all having chances to win. Taylor chipped in on the 18th to tie Echavarria with the other two behind them. Neither could make birdie, forcing a two-man playoff. Nick Taylor won for the 5th time on the PGA Tour
Spaun and Jaeger both stood on the 18th tee at -15 with Echavarria and Taylor at -16 under. Jaeger made a questionable decision by laying up off the tee. He needed to chip in from behind the green to join the playoff and could not get it to drop.
@ZackFlatto also smashed his decision to lay up, “This is a course management disaster class from Stephan Jaeger.”
Spaun did take driver but missed the green with his second shot. He needed to get up-and-down from short of the green to join the playoff. His chip shot went long and the putt missed to the right, missing a chance at his second PGA Tour win.
That forced the playoff between Nick Taylor and Nico Echavarria, which did not stop providing fireworks on Sunday evening,
Nick Taylor comes out on top in the Sony Open playoff

On the first playoff hole, Taylor hit a birdie putt and Echavarria drained his in right on top of him. That was on the same par-five 18th hole where Spaun and Jaeger could not make birdie to join them. None of these players are the stars that make people tune in for PGA Tour or TGL golf, but it was an exhilarating finish.
Taylor hit the fairway bunker with his tee shot while Echavarria was in the fairway. Their second shots left Echavarria in an advantageous spot just behind the green. But a great chip from Taylor and a poor putt from Echavarria flipped the playoff and got the Canadian his fifth PGA Tour win.
Taylor won his native Canadian Open in 2022 and the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2023, all in playoffs. This Sony Open win gets him into the PGA Tour's Signature Events Series and The Masters.
Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group put his recent success into perspective. “If Nick Taylor goes on to win, he would be the first player to win a PGA Tour playoff in 3 consecutive seasons since Bubba Watson more than a decade ago (2010, 2011, 2012).”