PALM COAST, Fla. – Vaughn Taylor’s next season looked different as soon as the putt dropped. A ten-foot birdie on the second playoff hole beat Alex Cejka at Constellation Furyk & Friends on Sunday, ending more than a decade without a victory and giving a player who had questioned his future a place to keep competing.
Taylor closed with a four-under 68 at the Ocean Course at Hammock Beach and finished regulation tied with Cejka at 17-under 199. Both made par on the first extra hole before Taylor won on their second return to the 18th. It was his first PGA Tour Champions title, earned in his 18th start since turning 50 in March.
The finish mattered beyond the trophy. The Associated Press report carried by ESPN said Taylor had limited status this year and was still trying to recover from a hip problem that had restricted his final years on the PGA Tour. The victory makes him exempt through the 2027 season.
That is a concrete change, not simply a claim that a win restored confidence. Taylor no longer faces the same uncertainty about getting into tournaments next year. The available report does not establish that his hip problem is resolved, but it does establish that his playing opportunity has improved.
Taylor’s winning approach was a seven-iron to ten feet, AP reported. He made the putt and clenched his fist. The last time he had won a PGA Tour event, at the 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, he beat Phil Mickelson by one stroke.
According to the tour’s official recap, the interval between those wins was 3,892 days: ten years, seven months and 27 days. Taylor had won three times in 459 PGA Tour starts between 2004 and 2023 before finding his first title on the senior circuit.
He did not arrive at the playoff through a smooth final round. Five successive birdies from the tenth through the 14th brought him into contention alongside Michael Wright. It was Taylor’s longest birdie streak on PGA Tour Champions, and he played the back nine in four-under 32 despite a late setback.
Taylor three-putted the 17th and thought his chances were slipping, AP reported. A run that had put him near the trophy now required help from the closing holes and a steady finish of his own. His two-putt par at the last was enough to reach the playoff, not enough to win outright.
Wright supplied the other late swing. Playing ahead, he pulled an approach from a fairway bunker into seaside vegetation left of the 18th and made double bogey. He shot 69 and finished alone in third at 16 under, a stroke behind the two players who went back out.
Cejka had already posted a seven-under 65, finishing with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He believed the score might produce second place because two players were ahead of him with holes remaining. AP reported that he had showered and changed before returning to the range when the playoff became necessary.
That detail explains the unusual route to the finish without making Cejka a passive participant. His closing birdie established the target Taylor had to match. The German’s round was three strokes better than Taylor’s on Sunday, but their identical 54-hole totals meant the title depended on the extra holes.
Cejka was seeking his fifth PGA Tour Champions victory. The runner-up finish was his ninth on the circuit in 140 starts, according to the tour. He moved from No. 17 to No. 11 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings, gaining ground even though the last putt went against him.
Taylor’s movement was larger: from No. 37 to No. 21. He entered the week with four top-ten finishes, including a tie for seventh at the Portugal Invitational. The title turns that earlier consistency into a stronger season position rather than creating a successful year from nothing.
The round totals are important here. The official record gives Taylor scores of 65, 66 and 68 for 199, while the AP account carried by ESPN prints a regulation total of 271. The scoring and standings in this report follow the tour’s round-by-round record.
Taylor and Cejka also established the event’s lowest 54-hole total, bettering Mickelson’s 201 from 2021. That comparison comes with a venue limitation: the tournament was played at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville from 2021 through 2025, before this edition at Hammock Beach. A lower score across different courses is not a direct measure of a better performance.
Five players shared fourth at 15 under: Ben Crane, Angel Cabrera, Ryan Armour, Mathew Goggin and Rod Pampling. Goggin, the 36-hole leader, closed with a 73. His first top-ten finish on PGA Tour Champions came with the disappointment of failing to convert his lead.
Elsewhere, Bernhard Langer shot a bogey-free 66 and finished 12th. At 69, he shot his age or better for the 50th time on PGA Tour Champions. Stewart Cink finished tied for 20th but remained the Charles Schwab Cup standings leader.
Taylor left with something neither a near miss nor another top ten could supply: a title and secured status. The five-birdie run gave him the chance, Wright’s double bogey kept it open, and one ten-foot putt finally ended the wait.
