Ben

Taylor

The LSU product proposed to his girlfriend last year when he was still playing the Korn Ferry circuit. They found their venue and the only two dates fell the week of THE PLAYERS and the week of the Masters. While it may have been possible to switch dates after his T4 finish at the Sony, he chose the path of least resistance, “From that moment onwards, I knew I would miss a tournament that I was going to be in. I never even thought about changing the date. I like living a life with as less stress as possible. We already do it enough to ourselves on the golf course.” He’s currently 30th in the FedExCup race so we’ll see plenty more of Taylor before the season is over.

Taylor was itching to get started this week at PGA National, having come very close to playing this event three times in the past. “I’ve been first alternate. I’ve been third alternate. And I’ve lost in a playoff in a Monday qualifier. I only live 10 minutes away, so I played it a few times, just not in the event.” He got right to work with five birdies to erase a pair of blemishes. He leaned heavily on the short game with +1.1 strokes gained around-the-green and +2.5 strokes gained putting. Taylor had a strong stretch of three straight top 25s around the holidays but arrived with three missed cuts and a T58 in his last four starts. He’s back on track after a strong opening lap, close to home.

The LSU product played steady with 14 GIR but gave himself just five birdie chances from inside of 19 feet. He converted on two of them which erased a lone blemish today. The Englishman bagged a solo third at the Houston Open in the fall and followed that up with a T21 at the RSM Classic. He’s now been T28 or better after 11 of his last 12 rounds played on the PGA TOUR. Hsi career trajectory is escalating very quickly after finding nothing better than a T20 finish over his first two seasons played on the big stage.

It was a special day for Taylor who played alongside eventual winner Tony Finau and Justin Rose. It was the latter that really intrigued Taylor, “I didn’t tell him this, but he’s one of my couple of role models growing up. It’s funny playing with him last group in a Tour event, which is cool for me.” Taylor didn’t get the scoring machine tuned in today, finding just one birdie and one bogey, but was still able to stay three shots clear of the fourth-place finishers. Taylor was T8 in GIR and 3rd in strokes gained putting this week. His previous best finish on the PGA TOUR was a T20 at the Barbasol Championship so this shatters that.

Taylor’s 65 was the low round of the day Saturday at Memorial Park GC, and it lifted him to 11 under for the week. While he still faces a steep deficit, four shots behind Finau, he’s also the only player within striking distance. Taylor is making just his 45th career start on Tour, with his best result a T-20 at last year’s Barbasol Championship. He had six birdies on the day, including a 21-foot make on No. 18, and dropped only one shot. Seven players since 2000 have earned their maiden title at this event, most recently Carlos Ortiz in 2020, and Taylor could potentially join their ranks if he’s able to chase down Finau. Either way, he appears in great position for a career-best finish and a launchpad of a finish to take into the new year.

The 29-year-old Taylor, who’s lone KFT victory came at the 2018 Club Colombia Championship, started the day five strokes behind 54-hole leader and eventual champion Harrison Endycott. He widened the margin for Endycott after opening with back-to-back bogeys, and he finished his front nine with a double bogey before turning the tide on the back. It marked the third top 10 on the season for Taylor, who’s made eight cuts in 10 starts with Huntsville being his best finish. However, he’s got two other top-5s this season, finishing T-5 at the Panama Championship in February and T-5 at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in March. Taylor is listed the field for this week’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, hosted by The Grove in College Grove, Tennessee.

The Canadian was prepped to play in his seventh Mayakoba Golf Classic before he backed out. Hearn was entering the week with two top 15s, a T33, and three missed cuts since the new season kicked off. There is no word on what has caused this mid-week change but gamers should remove Hearn from all weekly lineups.

The Englishman missed the first three cuts of the season but rebounded with finishes of T29, T55, and T28 at the Shriners, Houston Open, and Bermuda Championship. He slowed his pace as the holidays approached with back-to-back missed cuts. On a promising note, Taylor sits at 54th in the SG Approach ranks so far and 25th in GIR Percentage. The 27-year-old was a little inconsistent on the Korn Ferry circuit last season (13-for-22) but popped with three top 10s which represents the type of upside that gamers should expect from him in 2020. Overall, he’ll need to showcase some more consistency off-the-tee before he becomes a reliable week-to-week fantasy option.

The LSU alum will be making his third career PGA TOUR start when he tees it up at Glen Abbey Golf Club. He missed the cut in his debut (2015 Open Championship) but managed a T48 at this year’s Zurich Classic. He’s found a home on the Mackenzie Tour this season, and he’s off to a 3-for-6 start. Most notable was a T14 at the GolfBC Championship. Taylor was one of four to gain entry today, with the others being: Joey Garber (-5), Cameron Percy (-5), and Corey Conners (-3).

The Englishman who played for the European side of the 2013 Palmer Cup will be making his first PGA TOUR start on American soil. His lone start to date was a missed cut at the 2015 Open Championship played at St. Andrews Golf Club. Taylor joined LSU prior to his junior year and was a member of squad that secured SEC and NCAA team championships during his senior season, so he knows how to win. He recently announced he will be playing on the Mackenzie Tour in 2016, just north of the border. A strong finish this week would provide a nice confidence booster as he embarks on the journey of professional golf.