Vaughn Joseph Taylor (born March 9, 1976) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who has played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

and Web.com Tour.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. He was raised in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

from infancy. He attended Hephzibah High School. Taylor played golf for

Augusta State University Augusta State University was a public university in Augusta, Georgia. It merged with Georgia Health Sciences University in 2012 to form Georgia Regents University, later known as Augusta University. History Augusta State University was founded ...

where he was an honorable mention

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n his senior season.

Professional career

In 1999, Taylor turned professional. 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 The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. ...

at the

Knoxville Open The Visit Knoxville Open is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It is played annually at the Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. It is one of four original Tour events still played. The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'' was ...

. Taylor has three victories to his name on the

; his first two victories coming in consecutive years at the Reno-Tahoe Open, an alternate event, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. 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 The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team for the first time in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. 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 The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

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 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Taylor won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, his first PGA Tour win since August 2005. He started the week as first alternate, only earning entry after Carl Pettersson withdrew, and had not been fully exempt since

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The win was also Taylor's first at a non-alternate event and moved him from 447th in the world to 100th.

Personal life

Taylor lives in the

area with his wife, Leot.

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0)

NGA Hooters Tour wins (4)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 1 (four times, current) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Results in World Golf Championships

''Results not in chronological order prior to 2015.'' "T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

U.S. national team appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Vaughn American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from Virginia Golfers from Augusta, Georgia Augusta Jaguars men's golfers Sportspeople from Roanoke, Virginia People from Hephzibah, Georgia 1976 births Living people