Skip to main content

With his his maiden PGA Tour victory in Mississippi on Sunday, Nick Taylor became the first Canadian to win on the Tour since Stephen Ames in 2009.Michael Cohen/Getty Images

In the hours after rookie Nick Taylor captured his maiden PGA Tour victory in Mississippi on Sunday, he didn't exactly celebrate. He did laundry, had a quiet dinner with his roommate, fellow Canadian Adam Hadwin, and called it a night at 10 o'clock.

Maybe Taylor was still a little stunned that he actually won, something few Canadians do – only Mike Weir and Stephen Ames have recorded PGA Tour victories in the previous seven seasons. In a post-round interview, in fact, he described the circumstances of his triumph as "surreal."

But by the next morning, the impact of his accomplishment began to sink in. On a conference call with reporters, he talked about how, as a Tour winner, he has the luxury of choosing which events he'd like to play for the rest of the 2014-15 season.

That's huge for any pro golfer, but especially for a PGA Tour rookie vying for the few available spots in tournament fields. Now he can forgo the week-to-week grind he had anticipated just to try and maintain his Tour status. His new schedule includes the champions-only Hyundai Invitational in Hawaii in January, the Players Championship next May and the PGA Championship in August.

"It's exciting that I'll get to pick my schedule and take breaks when I want to and not be playing the waiting game all year," said a still-subdued Taylor, who won in only his fourth try as a PGA Tour regular after failing to win in four seasons on either the Web.com Tour or PGA Tour Canada. He added: "This definitely gives me more confidence, knowing that I can compete at this level. And now, at the bigger events, I will feel more comfortable on the weekends when I'm close to the lead."

Taylor, who was born in Winnipeg but grew up in Abbotsford, B.C., first honed his craft at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club in the Lower Mainland. He spent three seasons as a member of Golf Canada's national team, he won the national amateur championship and four college tournaments while at the University of Washington and for 21 consecutive weeks in 2009, he was ranked the world's No. 1 amateur.

He left college for the pro ranks in 2010 after finishing as the low amateur at the 2009 U.S. Open Championship and recipient of the 2010 Ben Hogan Award as the outstanding player in collegiate golf. As a result, he was deemed the next can't-miss Canadian prospect – a title that has proven difficult to live up to for many previous top players.

The past few years have been a mix of success and failure as Taylor wandered through the lesser golf tours, looking to build the confidence he needed and move closer to that elusive PGA Tour card.

He turned to the Vancouver Golf Tour, a mini-tour started in 2006 by Fraser Mulholland to give players a platform to gain valuable playing experience in a PGA Tour-type environment. Success at home helped Taylor rediscover his golf game and, more importantly, learn how to win again.

"I think what people don't understand is, even though I was No. 1 in the world, when I turned pro I had status nowhere. Everything is earned," said Taylor, who admitted he endured discouraging periods of self-doubt. "It's taken me a couple of extra years than people thought, [but] if you had told me four years ago when I turned pro this would have been the road I would have taken, I wouldn't have done anything different."

Taylor gained even more confidence from his recent run of solid play, and the 26-year-old credits that momentum for pushing him over the line on Sunday at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

"Six months ago, you couldn't convince me that I would have been on the PGA Tour, let alone winning," said Taylor, who needed a blistering final round at the Web.com Tour Championship two months ago just to secure his PGA Tour card.

He may have become the first Canadian to win on Tour since Ames in 2009, but he's confident he'll have a few more compatriots to share the spotlight with in the near future.

"If you look at the college ranks," he said, "we have a lot of great players, and I think that's going to continue. It's looking bright for Canadian golf, that's for sure."

Interact with The Globe