The Champ Is Back: Nick Taylor's Attempt to Repeat History on the PGA Tour

When Nick Taylor won the Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour in November 2014—one year ago this week—he did something no Canadian had done for nearly five years prior. It was a wonderful way to kickstart Taylor's rookie campaign on the Tour, but the momentum didn't carry over to the rest of the season.

His victory was his lone top-ten finish. He only had one other top-25, at the Valspar Championship in March, and went six weeks in the middle of the summer when he made only one cut. But the 26-year-old was a PGA Tour champion.

"I was just riding a huge wave of momentum starting in September," Taylor explains. "I was playing well for a few months, and everything came together perfectly."

He overcame a four-shot deficit on the final day to capture a victory in just his 13th start on golf's biggest circuit. Despite a three-putt bogey on the final hole, he won by two shots over Tour veterans Boo Weekley and Jason Bohn. He was also $720,000 richer.

Things were happening fast and furious for Taylor and his wife, Andie, who he married in May 2015. They finally were able to go on their honeymoon—an all-inclusive trip to Aruba, where Taylor says he didn't play any golf—after his victory last fall. But the life of a PGA Tour winner means an unpredictable schedule, and Taylor laughs when he tries to pinpoint exactly what he and Andie did for their one-year anniversary this year. Turns out, they left The Players Championship—one of the PGA Tour's marquee events—and drove to North Carolina where they had dinner in Charlotte.

"It wasn't too spectacular, but it worked," Taylor says.

Taylor and Andie—who was a social worker at home in Abbotsford, British Columbia—have just recently moved into their first home together in Phoenix, Arizona. They still have an apartment in Abbotsford, but Taylor (who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but moved to B.C. as a youngster) says he is happy with their new locale. In fact, he is a mere eight minutes from the TPC Scottsdale, home to the PGA Tour's Waste Management Open.

Despite all the changes off the course, Taylor tried to keep his wits about him on the course after his victory. It could have been easy for him to slide into a state of mediocrity through the balance of the season, but he was committed to doing well. He finished the season with over $1 million in earnings, but there was a stretch in the summer where he was really struggling.

"I really wasn't playing well," he reflects. "Then, I started to play well but I wasn't scoring. And, that's how the rest of the year went. I couldn't keep it together and had a lot of 50th-place finishes."

Taylor is excited at the prospect of what the upcoming season holds, now that he has a full year under his belt. "I think the second time doing anything is much easier. I've felt that way after every level of golf I've played," he says. "After the first year, I always seem to improve because I feel a bit more comfortable."

Although he started the year with a missed cut at the Frys.com Open, he finished T25 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, an improvement of 51 spots from his 2014 finish.

In 2014, even if he missed a cut, he didn't get comfortable just because he knew had a job lined up for the next two years—that's part of the reward a PGA Tour winner receives. When he didn't play well, he was upset. "I wanted to get better," Taylor explains.

Taylor was one of four nominees for Rookie of the Year, but ended up losing out to 22-year-old Daniel Berger, who had finished 25th on the money list. Although happy to be nominated, he says he didn't think he had the "slightest chance" at winning the award.

"My season wasn't even close to that of Tony (Finau), Daniel and Justin (Thomas), if you look at the overall body of work," he explains. "It was very cool to be nominated, but there's a lot for me to improve on."

As Taylor looks to 2016, he also has his eyes on representing Canada in the Olympics. He's currently fourth in the Canadian standings—the top two from the country in the Official World Golf Ranking will be the representatives in Rio—behind David Hearn, Graham DeLaet and Adam Hadwin.

"Other than my win, I haven't had a lot of good finishes that will come out of this two-year cycle," he says. "There's a lot of time still and a lot of tournaments. Obviously I'm not in the ideal situation, but I'm still in a good spot. I can play some big tournaments and skyrocket up in points."

The results of Taylor's season post-victory showed that it was, at times, a tough ride. If his start to this season is any indication, however, he's already on the path to a successful sophomore campaign. And no one can take away the fact that he is something millions of golfers want to be: a PGA Tour Champion.

Now it's time for the champ to defend his title on the same course he made history at.