| Vaughn Taylor | |
| Fullname: | Vaughn Joseph Taylor |
| Birth Date: | March 9, 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Roanoke, Virginia, U.S. |
| Weight: | 160lb |
| Residence: | Augusta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Spouse: | Leot Taylor |
| Children: | 1 |
| College: | Augusta State University |
| Yearpro: | 1999 |
| Tour: | PGA Tour |
| Extour: | Web.com Tour NGA Hooters Tour |
| Prowins: | 8 |
| Pgawins: | 3 |
| Nwidewins: | 1 |
| Otherwins: | 4 |
| Masters: | T10: 2007 |
| Usopen: | CUT: 1998, 2007 |
| Open: | T66: 2006 |
| Pga: | T28: 2005 |
Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour.
Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Taylor was raised in Augusta, Georgia, from infancy. After attending Hephzibah High School,[1] he played golf for Augusta State University where he was an honorable mention All-American his senior season. He continues to reside in the Augusta area with his wife, Leot.
Taylor turned professional in 1999. 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.[2] 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.[3]
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 22, 2004 | Reno–Tahoe Open | −10 (67-67-69-75=278) | Playoff |  Stephen Allan,  Hunter Mahan, Scott McCarron | |
| 2 | Aug 21, 2005 | Reno–Tahoe Open (2) | −21 (64-67-64-72=267) | 3 strokes | Jonathan Kaye | |
| 3 | Feb 14, 2016 | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | −17 (70-68-67-65=270) | 1 stroke | Phil Mickelson |
PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004 | Reno–Tahoe Open | Stephen Allan, Hunter Mahan, Scott McCarron | Won with birdie on first extra hole | |
| 2 | 2009 | Matt Kuchar | Lost to par on sixth extra hole | ||
| 3 | Shell Houston Open | Anthony Kim | Lost to par on first extra hole |
Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning score | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 8, 1999 | Hooters Classic (Echo Farms) | −16 (68-66-66-72=272) | 2 strokes | Jason Buha, John Kimbell | |
| 2 | Feb 18, 2001 | NGA Meadow Brook Golf Classic | −21 (63-69-64-63=259) | 6 strokes | Greg Gregory, Zoran Zorkic | |
| 3 | Apr 8, 2001 | Triad Classic | −22 (66-65-65-66=262) | 1 stroke | Eric Epperson | |
| 4 | Mar 16, 2003 | Southern Hills Classic | −28 (67-68-62-63=260) | 6 strokes | Joe Meade |
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | |||
| U.S. Open | CUT | ||
| The Open Championship | |||
| PGA Championship |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T10 | CUT | ||||||||
| U.S. Open | CUT | ||||||||||
| The Open Championship | T66 | CUT | |||||||||
| PGA Championship | T28 | CUT | CUT | CUT |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | |||||||
| U.S. Open | ||||||||
| The Open Championship | ||||||||
| PGA Championship | CUT | T33 |
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 |
Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.
| Tournament | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | T32 | |||||||||||
| Match Play | ||||||||||||
| Invitational | T18 | T61 | T27 | T38 | ||||||||
| Champions |
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.