“I think it raised my goals” - Nick Taylor reacts to the new FedEx Cup format limiting playoff entries

As per Nick Taylor, the new FedEx Cup format was the motivating factor for his impressive performance last season. He said the shorter playoff raised his goals and motivated him to do better.

At the beginning of 2023, Taylor was ranked 257th in the OWGR (Original World Golf Ranking) and had finished 134th in the FedEx Cup 2021–22 standings. When the 2022–23 season was announced, several changes were made, including shortening the playoff field to just 70 players compared to the previous 125. Besides, only the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup could gain full status for the PGA Tour 2024 season.

While the new changes made things quite difficult for many players, Taylor felt it gave him extra motivation. He told the press on Tuesday, January 2:

"I think it( the new structure) almost was a motivating factor. I thought some years I definitely got caught up in that 125 number, I needed to get that to keep my card to get into playoffs. To kind of move your sights up to something different I think helped me.

"Obviously, it's very difficult. You can have a great year and finish 80th, 85th. So, I probably had a bit of mixed emotions to start, but I think again it kind of raised my goals, raised my focus on what I needed to accomplish. I think it helped me personally, but you can have a great year and miss out on the playoffs, which is unfortunate."

After missing a cut in a couple of events at the beginning of the season, Taylor had a turnaround as he registered runner-up finishes at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. A couple of months later, he registered his biggest win at the RBC Canadian Open in a fourth playoff hole. He became the first local player since 1954 to win the event.

Taylor missed three cuts in his next four starts but had accumulated enough points to qualify for the playoffs, and then he went on to qualify for the Tour Championship, where he finished 25th.

The three-time winner on the PGA Tour said that there was room for players like him who are not the top-ranked players but still can make it to places they want to go. He continued:

"There's room for guys like me that don't bomb it, aren't that kind of the new-age golfer. There's plenty of golf courses that I can still play really well only. I think I can play well on a lot of golf courses, but there's certainly a few that I prefer.

"Yeah, there's plenty of guys I think in that top 70, top 50 that are still really good players that might have surprised a few people, but there's still plenty of room for us."

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How has Nick Taylor performed in the previous starts at the Sentry?

Nick Taylor has made two starts on the Sentry in the past, and on both occasions, he finished T29. However, his best score here was in 2021, when he averaged 13 under.

This year, Tayor is grouped with Akshay Bhatia and Cam Davis for the first two rounds at the Kapalua Plantation Course. The trio will take off on Thursday, January 4, at 3:15 pm ET.