AUGUSTA, Ga. – Vaughn Taylor’s emotional win at Pebble Beach in February could not have come at a better time. The Augusta, Ga. native had gone more than a decade without a win on the PGA Tour. At the time, he was only able to make sporadic starts on the Web.com Tour and was unsure about where or when his next start, and paycheck would come. He made the trip to Pebble Beach hoping to get in as the first alternate.
His win at the AT&T pro-am gives him full status on the PGA Tour for two years. It also earns him an invitation to the 2016 Masters, the tournament that is played just a few miles from where the former Augusta State golfer grew up. Taylor last played in The Masters in 2008. After the Pebble Beach win, Taylor’s wife Leot, was in tears as she embraced her husband who was holding their son. Years of toiling in mediocrity at the game’s highest levels had finally been vanquished.
Taylor was in Augusta on Tuesday to help promote his annual American Junior Golf Association tournament, the EZGO Vaughn Taylor Championship, at Jones Creek Golf Club in Evans, Ga. Taylor says his tough years on tour and becoming a family man have given him a new perspective the business of playing professional golf.
Speaking to a small crowd in the Jones Creek clubhouse, he also shared a message to junior golfers of perseverance, and how to handle the ups and downs the game delivers to those who tee it up. ” I think about my junior golf days, and you know, I had no idea where I was going to end up, or how golf was going to end up for me. Just the roller coaster ride it can give you,” said Taylor.
“After the win at Pebble, it just makes you realize, just to never give up. Keep working hard trying to get better everyday,” he said. “You never know when it’s all going to come together,” he continued. “I hope all the kids out there were watching. And want to come play in our tournament here” said Taylor as he also praised the staff and volunteers who help make his junior golf tournament possible.
Taylor emphasized that his journey back to the PGA Tour winner’s circle is just another example of how hard work and pays off. “Hopefully it gave them a little inspiration and motivation,” he said grinning.
The EZGO Vaughn Taylor Championship, featuring boys and girls ages 12-18, will run July 10-14 at Jones Creek Golf Club. You can find more information about the tournament at the AJGA website.
