Taylor Wins Sahalee Players Championship

Nick Taylor continued his fabulous year by winning the 2009 Sahalee Players Championship, one of the nation's most prestigious amateur events. The senior-to-be at the University of Washington and the top-finishing amateur in the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and the world's top-ranked amateur according to the R&A, carded a 1-over-par 73 in the final round to win by a stroke over Australian National Team member Daniel Nisbet of Caboolture, Australia.

The two players came to Sahalee's 211-yard par-3 17th hole tied at 4-under par. Taylor tee shot ended up 40 feet from the hole, while Nisbet stiffed his to 6 feet. Taylor, who had struggled with his putter much of the week, said to his caddie, "I'm due to make one," as they approached the green. He made true on his prediction by draining the birdie putt, while Nisbet pushed his much shorter 6-footer off to the right.

With a one-stroke lead heading to the final hole, Taylor made another birdie, holing a 15-footer to seal the win at 6-under par 282. Nisbet birdied 18 after holing his 7-footer to finish one back at 5-under par 283.

Third-round leader Eddie Olson of Aptos, Calif., struggled much of the final round despite a birdie at the first hole. But Olson ended in style by holing out an amazing flop shot on 18 to take home sole possession of third at 4-under par 284.

Taylor joins an impressive list of past Sahalee champions that includes Daniel Summerhays, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore, Arron Oberholser, Jason Gore, and Casey Martin.

The Pacific Northwest Golf Association teamed with Sahalee Country Club 10 years ago to create the "Western Swing," in combination with the PNGA's Men's Amateur. The PNGA Men's will take place at The Home Course in DuPont south of Tacoma next week, with many of the players in the first leg participating in that hallowed championship while in the Puget Sound area.

Sahalee Players Championship Final Results

Sahalee Country Club, Par 72 6,977 yards

1- Nick Taylor, Abbotsford, BC --69-70-70-73-282
2- Daniel Nisbet, Caboolture, Australia --73-67-68-75--283
3- Eddie Olson, Aptos, CA --71-68-68-77--284
4- Lindsay Renolds, Christina Lake, BC --71-72-70-73--286
T5- Dan Woltman, Beaver Dam, WI --68-77-71-72--288
T5- Ryan Hallisey, Granite Bay, CA --69-70-74-75--288
T5- Trent Whitekiller, Sallisaw, OK --72-70-73-73--288
T8- Derek Berg, Kenmore, WA --69-70-76-75--290
T8- James Sacheck, The Woodlands, TX --69-73-76-72--290
T8- Richard Lee, Covington, WA --74-74-73-69--290
11- Riley Wheeldon, Comox, BC --71-73-71-76--291
T12- Dodge Kemmer, Stanford, CA --72-74-71-75--292
T12- Jacob Koppenberg, Everett, WA --67-75-74-76--292
T14- Chan Kim, Chandler, AZ --76-67-75-75--293
T14- Conrad Shindler, Westlake, TX --74-72-77-70--293
T14- Erik Hanson, Kirkland, WA --73-75-72-73--293
T14- Scott Langley, Manchester, MO --72-69-75-77--293
18- Dustin Garza, Wichita, KS --80-70-74-70--294
T19- Eugene Wong, North Vancouver, BC --73-73-75-74--295
T19- Robert Streb, Edmond, OK --71-76-81-67--295
T21- David Lipsky, La Canada, CA --79-75-71-71--296
T21- Jarin Todd, Woodinville, WA --75-71-75-75--296
T21- Mitchell Gregson, Waterloo, IL --73-74-74-75--296
24- Donald Constable, Wayzata, MN --71-74-78-74--297
T25- Adam Long, Lake St. Louis, MO --72-76-77-73--298
T25- Chris D Ward, McKinney, TX --75-74-76-73--298
T25- Tom Hoge, Fargo, ND --70-74-76-78--298
T28- Cameron Peck, Olympia, WA --71-79-75-74--299
T28- Joel Dahmen, Clarkston, WA --73-76-70-80--299
T28- Josh Anderson, Murrieta, CA --72-74-77-76--299
T28- Martin Trainer, Palo Alto, CA --80-71-75-73--299
T28- Robbie Ziegler, Canby, OR --75-73-73-78--299
33- Stephen Hale, Bakersfield, CA --73-75-76-76--300
T34- Cheng-Tsung Pan, Yuanli, Taiwan --79-73-71-78--301
T34- Nick Delio, Valencia, CA --72-76-80-73--301
T34- Sam Cyr, Makawao, HI --73-76-76-76--301
37- Spencer Cole, Greer, SC --73-72-80-77--302
T38- Brady Johnson, Mill Bay, B.C. --73-76-73-81--303
T38- Carlos Sainz , Elgin, IL --75-72-78-78--303
T38- Chris Killmer, Bellingham, WA --74-76-78-75--303
T38- Derek Ernst, Clovis, CA --74-81-77-71--303
T38- Eric Mina, Fremont, CA --73-80-73-77--303
T38- Kevin Penner, Sammamish, WA --73-76-78-76--303
T38- Skip Berkmeyer, St. Louis, MO --75-77-73-78--303
T45- Connor Driscoll, Encinitas, CA --75-72-80-77--304
T45- Geoff Gonzalez, Diablo, CA --74-78-79-73--304
T47- Diego Velasquez, Bogota, Colombia --75-74-78-78--305
T47- Matthew Giles, Sydney, Australia --79-73-76-77--305
T47- Robbie Fillmore, Salt Lake City, UT --74-78-78-75--305
T50- Dan Whitaker, Cle Elum, WA --78-75-79-74--306
T50- Darren Wallace, Langley, BC --75-71-80-80--306
T52- Dave Bunker, Woodbridge, Ontario --81-73-80-73--307
T52- Taylor Travis, Fremont, CA --74-74-78-81--307
54- Andrew Putnam, University Place, WA --76-77-78-78--309
55- Steven Kearney, Carlsbad, CA --73-81-79-77--310
56- Brady Exber, Las Vegas, NV --76-79-77-79--311
T57- Nick Geyer, Albuquerque, NM --78-78-73-83--312
T57- Zahkai Brown, Arvada, CO --79-76-80-77--312
T59- Alex Shi Yup Kim, Fullerton, CA --80-77-87-69--313
T59- Austin Hurt, Bainbridge Island, WA --77-82-78-76--313
61- Rob Chandler, Sammamish, WA --78-77-77-82--314
62- Brett Kanda, La Crescenta, CA --77-76-83-79--315
63- Paul Peterson, Corvallis, OR --78-80-75-89--322
64- Trent Sanders, Scottsdale, AZ --82-81-76-85--324