Open Phoenix: Nick Taylor does not feel pressure to defend the title
Scotsdale, Aric. There is nothing that Nick Taylor wants to do more than his country’s original representative in the President’s Cup last fall. He had not played with the international team before, so playing with Mike Warr in Royal Montreal was a dream that had become true.
Looking at what happened last year in TPC Scottsdale, Taylor went out of Charlie Hoffman in a separate match, his place in the team seemed guaranteed. He raised the clutch genes to the bottom, and made five birds over the last six holes – two in the qualifiers – which helped him jump up to 28 in the official global golf rankings and between the top 10 in the FEDEX Cup. His way to the Presidents Cup was clear.
He also had all of Canada chanting him. Eight months before his victory in the Squared People’s Open Championship, Taylor became a Canadian champion. Tommy Fleetwood was defeated by making 72 feet to a eagle to win the Canadian RBC 2023 championship in the fourth fourth hole, becoming the first Canadian to win this event in 69 years. It was a reason to measure national splendor, to the point that the championship officials have constantly changed the slogan to represent the Taylor silhouette from his celebration.
All of this means that Taylor felt uninterrupted after his victory in Phoenix in 2024. He continued looking at the Cup of Presidents and Olympics, which worries what he would look like if he did not make any of the team.
Taylor said on Tuesday: “In the golf game, this is not a great thing,” Taylor said on Tuesday.
With his future for him throughout the spring and summer, Taylor fought, barely similar to the player who wanted his way to victory in Toronto and Squisdale. He missed the reduction in Ugusta National, then began to miss the pieces in both Canadian PGA and RBC Open. It followed more missing discounts in the US Open and the Open Championship in Royal Tron, and suddenly, Taylor found himself out of the top 50 in the FedEx Cup ranking.
“I think the months before [the Presidents Cup]Taylor said:
Its shape was terrible, and he decided to pass Taylor.
“Memphis was disappointing because I did not make the best 50, then immediately after that, I did not get a choice [for the International Team]; It was a few bowel punches, so it was re -evaluated. I didn’t think I needed to re -invent the wheel with my golf game; “I felt that there were some external things – I felt the whole thing last year was trying to qualify for things,” Taylor explained on Tuesday.
“I have done more difficult on the mental side, and I tried to modify some things mechanically in my golf swing, and it is never a guarantee of success when going out, but it is clear that a hot start was nice.”
These improvements have since helped Taylor greatly. Only last month, his 2025 season started with revenge, and won the Sony Open in Hawaii in – yes, I guessed that – another playoff match. He miraculously set out for the eagle in the eighteenth hole to end at 16 years, and Niko Ecavaria tied to the imposition of additional holes. After that, in the second qualifying hole, Taylor made a rise down to the birds of 46 yards while Echavarria is three -building Echavarria on an equal footing, giving the Canadian his fifth victory PgA Tour in his career.
“We are excited to get a year where I was only playing the regular PGA tour table,” explained Taylor.
“I am not trying to qualify for the Olympics. I do not try to qualify for the presidential cup team and that this is at the back of my mind. It is just let’s play well as much as I can and stick to what I know is the best in my game and my consequences.”
This mentality has pushed stock profits so far. His victory over Waialae won his agenda for the rest of the year, as Taylor will now play every signature event.
“For me, when I play the golf game, if I am trying to protect from bad things or protect the lead, this is not great for me,” Taylor added.
“I prefer when I am already trying to chase things. I think this is what I settled in the past year, in the past few months, from trying to protect the place where I was in the team or I am trying not to play badly, which is nothing good. I have tried to You learn as much as I can, and we hope that it will not be settled again.
Whenever the heroes speak in one of the championships during their press conference, they often feel nervous or pressure to play well in their defense. Regardless of the tournament, the lights shine brighter, adding stress to their week. This is the reality. It is often placed in distinctive groups as well, which apply to Taylor this week. He will play alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan SPIETH during the first two days.
But Taylor looked cold, calm and collected as it was always during his press conference at the media center under the TPC Scotsdale Club. He seemed relaxed, answered every question, frankly, and even had a joy in the American Football Association at the end of the session.
“In the past, when I fought, if I had a bad start, I am trying the scenario” I got this hole, “or” I have to do this or do that “and I try to leave that open and let the things come. Taylor said:” I think it helped me Accepting part of the golf game, which definitely needs to be high -level. “
“There are a lot of things that I feel at the golf course that I try to work on is with the mental side, and it has an open look for a future in that round, anything possible.”
Everything is possible – don’t look further than Taylor’s victories in Toronto, Squisdale and Honolulu over the past three years. But this golf, a sport in which everything can collapse at one time, which happened to Taylor with the progress of the 2024 season.
Now that he told all this, learned from him, and applied his strategies on his general approach, Taylor feels pressure this week in the desert. This makes him a serious threat, almost serious like his racket in a separate match.
Jack Milko is a golf team writer to play SB NATA through. Follow it on x @jack_milko.