Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour.
Early life Taylor was born in Roanoke, Virginia. He was raised in Augusta, Georgia from infancy. He attended Hephzibah High School. Taylor played golf for Augusta State University where he was an honorable mention All-American his senior season.
Professional career In 1999, Taylor turned professional. He played his early years on the Hooters and Nationwide Tours, getting valuable experience before playing his first full year with a PGA Tour card in 2004. He won four times on the NGA Hooters Tour, and once on the Nationwide Tour at the Knoxville Open. Taylor has three victories to his name on the PGA Tour; his first two victories coming in consecutive years at the Reno-Tahoe Open, an alternate event, in 2004 and 2005. His victory in 2004 was one of five wins by rookies that year and came after holing an 11-foot birdie on the first extra hole during a four-man sudden-death playoff. He had also previously had to sink a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation play to make it into the playoff. In 2005, he led the event wire-to-wire and held a six-stroke advantage entering the final round, to claim a comfortable victory by three strokes from Jonathan Kaye.
After a year that included a career high six top-10s, Taylor qualified to play on the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the first time in 2006. He earned a half point for his team with a record of 0–1–1.
Taylor's highest world ranking was 37th in 2007 and career high in the FedEx Cup placing was 35th in 2010.
Taylor started the 2015–16 season playing on both the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour, having only past champion status on the PGA Tour after finishing 151st in the FedEx Cup, just a fraction of a point from conditional status. He made two starts on the PGA Tour before making two starts on the Web.com Tour, where he missed the cut in Panama and withdrew due to illness in Colombia. In February 2016, Taylor won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his first PGA Tour win since August 2005. He started the week as first alternate, only earning entry after Carl Pettersson withdrew, and had not been fully exempt since 2012. The win was also Taylor's first at a non-alternate event and moved him from 447th in the world to 100th.
Personal life Taylor lives in the Augusta, Georgia.
Professional wins (8) PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 22, 2004Reno–Tahoe Open−10 (67-67-69-75=278)Playoff Stephen Allan, Hunter Mahan, Scott McCarron2Aug 21, 2005Reno–Tahoe Open (2)−21 (64-67-64-72=267)3 strokes Jonathan Kaye3Feb 14, 2016AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am−17 (70-68-67-65=270)1 stroke Phil Mickelson
PGA Tour playoff record (1–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12004Reno–Tahoe Open Stephen Allan, Hunter Mahan, Scott McCarronWon with birdie on first extra hole 22009Turning Stone Resort Championship Matt KucharLost to par on sixth extra hole32010 Shell Houston Open Anthony KimLost to par on first extra hole
Nationwide Tour wins (1) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1Jun 29, 2003Knoxville Open−20 (68-69-67-64=268)Playoff Joe Ogilvie
Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12003Knoxville Open Joe OgilvieWon with birdie on first extra hole
NGA Hooters Tour wins (4) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Aug 8, 1999Hooters Classic (Echo Farms)−16 (68-66-66-72=272)2 strokes Jason Buha, John Kimbell2Feb 18, 2001NGA Meadow Brook Golf Classic−21 (63-69-64-63=259)6 strokes Greg Gregory, Zoran Zorkic3Apr 8, 2001Triad Classic−22 (66-65-65-66=262)1 stroke Eric Epperson4Mar 16, 2003Southern Hills Classic−28 (67-68-62-63=260)6 strokes Joe Meade
Results in major championships Tournament 1998 1999Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipPGA Championship Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Masters TournamentCUTT10CUTU.S. OpenCUTThe Open ChampionshipT66CUTPGA ChampionshipT28CUTCUTCUT Tournament2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Masters TournamentCUTU.S. OpenThe Open ChampionshipPGA ChampionshipCUTT33
CUT = missed the half way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 1U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2Totals 0 0 0 0 1 1 14 4 Most consecutive cuts made – 1 (four times, current) Longest streak of top-10s – 1
Results in The Players Championship Tournament20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021The Players ChampionshipT32T8CUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTCUTT41CCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Results in World Golf Championships Results not in chronological order prior to 2015. Tournament200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016ChampionshipT32Match PlayInvitationalT18T61T27T38Champions
"T" = tied Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
U.S. national team appearances Ryder Cup: 2006
See also 2003 Nationwide Tour graduates 2011 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
References
External links