Nick Taylor Emerges as Round 1 WM Phoenix Open Leader With Record-Tying 60

The Canadian’s 11-under round tied the TPC Scottsdale 18-hole scoring record.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It only took 30 hours, but Canada’s Nick Taylor finally has emerged as the first-round leader of the WM Phoenix Open, which has been plagued this year with weather-related interruptions. 

Taylor, 35, tied the tournament’s 18-hole scoring record with an 11-under 60 on Friday. The score marked his career best round on Tour. Phil Mickelson, Mark Calcavecchia and Grant Waite are the only other players to have carded 60s at TPC Scottsdale. 

With 11 birdies, Taylor had an outstanding day on the greens. His scorecard tallied 23 putts. He gained more than seven shots on the field in strokes gained putting. Taylor’s flatstick is known to get hot. At last year’s RBC Canadian Open, Taylor became the tournament’s first Canadian champion since 1954 after holing a 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole against Tommy Fleetwood. 

Like yesterday’s early leader, 26-year-old Sahith Theegala, Taylor also has a previous close call at the WM Phoenix Open. Last year, the Canadian came up two shots shy of the victory behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. 

Scheffler also won in 2022, when Theegala’s 17th hole water ball on Sunday cost him his maiden PGA Tour win. The two-time defending champion posted a 3-under 68 in Round 1 and will chase the elusive three-peat this weekend. 

With preferred lies in effect and soft conditions from Thursday’s 3 1/2-hour rain delay, the Stadium course played like a dart board on Friday morning. An early frost delay caused Round 1 play to resume at 9:13 a.m. local time. 

The sun finally beamed down on the infamous 16th-hole Coliseum, but those trudging away on site still had to navigate muddy walks between holes and damp fairways and greens. Meanwhile, players fired at pins with little to no wind impacting morning play. 

Round 2 tee times officially commenced at 12:25 p.m. local time, with afternoon-wave players drawing tee times that extend late into the evening. 

Max Homa, who posted a 2-over 73 in the opening round, put the odd time slot into perspective for his 634,000 Twitter followers. 

It will be like showing up to a bar 15 minutes before it closes. Probably won’t have enough time to have a lot of fun, but every interaction with a person will be alarming and hilarious pic.twitter.com/TxFtr0Yihm

— max homa (@Maxhoma) February 9, 2024