WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 12, 2023

Nick Taylor

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. Great week. What are your takeaways from the week and specifically today?

NICK TAYLOR: I played great today. I felt like I didn't really make any mistakes maybe until 16. But I really felt that was a great swing off the tee there. That wind was just crazy strong. I played enough for it, just obviously not quite enough.

I would love the chip back on there. I felt like that was one I could potentially hole. It was still a tricky chip, but one I would like to do little bit better.

But I putted great all day, hit a lot of great shots, so I don't have a lot of complaints.

Q. Was there a time in the last four, five holes, really between 13 and 16 where you felt like you really had to step on it a little bit?

NICK TAYLOR: I was just asked about 15. That's the strength of my game is my wedge game. So from 240 that pin is quite appealing. But you saw Jon. Any slight miscue it's going to be in the water.

I thought I hit a poor wedge shot there so it looks like a poor decision, I guess, after, in hindsight. But that was the strength of my game. I thought I could stick it close there and put more pressure on Scottie. It just didn't happen.

I hit a good shot on 16. Obviously great putt by Scottie to put the pressure on. Kind of a misread there.

Another great putt on 17 and pretty poor lipout. Would have made things a little more interesting on 18.

But I feel like I put a lot of good swings in the right moments, just didn't turn out.

Q. Having Corey and Adam waiting for you what's something they said to you and what's it mean to have the brotherhood sort of that you guys have?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, Mac was there as well. It's great. We're all close friends we play a lot of practice rounds together. To show their support to kind of show up is great. It would have been nice if I was holding the trophy with them there too. But, no, it's awesome. It's definitely a Canadian brotherhood out here.

Q. You said yesterday you've been playing this course a lot recently. Did you expect this kind of performance coming into the week?

NICK TAYLOR: I've been playing well, but my track record here is really not that great. I've worked a lot on my putting. Kind of changed my grip over the fall. I putted great this week. That's kind of been my Achilles Heel out here. I feel like I've always hit it pretty nice out here. Just wasn't able to read the greens that great. Once I saw some putts going in I definitely got some confidence and rolled a lot of nice putts. So that was kind of the difference this week.

Q. Does this change anything for the rest of your season having this performance under your belt this early on?

NICK TAYLOR: It gives me a lot of confidence. We're going into next week which is a course that I love. So get a little bit of rest and keep the pedal down.

I'm sure it opens up a few opportunities of tournaments. So we'll kind of see how it goes. But right now I'm just kind of playing next week.

Q. Where do you see the state of Canadian golf and do you think this weekend might have changed things down south?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, I feel like we've been getting stronger and stronger on TOUR. Last week I played with Taylor Pendrith and he had a great Sunday and finished top 10 there.

So it's great for us all to play together and have the brotherhood like that we have. I feel like we're all playing well. So it's exciting.

Q. What's clicking with the new caddie in the fall and working with a new coach? Has this been helpful and what more changes need to be made?

NICK TAYLOR: Yeah, Dave Markle's been on my bag since the end of last season. He's been a really good friend of mine since 2008, 2009. He's been great. He's a great player in his own right. Has such a positive energy out there. We have a great time. He keeps me loose. So that's been a huge change.

With the putting grip, I worked with Gareth Raflewski on my short game and we put a lot of time into it there and it's been paying off, so that's nice.