Like a Hollywood movie, Vaughn Taylor stars as underdog at Pebble Beach

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — On a sparkling Sunday by Carmel Bay and Stillwater Cove, Vaughn Taylor emerged from golf’s abyss in last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Ranked No. 447th in the world, winless on the PGA Tour since 2005 and without a Tour card since 2012, Taylor shot a final-round 7-under-par 65 to run down Phil Mickelson and win by one shot at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

All of this played out a week after he got off the sick bed in a Colombian hospital where he was hooked up to an IV to combat food poisoning. To pinch pennies on the trip home, he had to carry on his bag to save on baggage fees.

Taylor’s story was straight out of Hollywood in a tournament started by Bing Crosby and featuring a history of celebrity giants. The underdog nearly on his last legs taking down Goliath, the struggling pro who battled injuries and a lack of confidence but stayed the course as his wife, Leot, never lost faith.

Fade to the final credits as Taylor is holding the championship hardware in one hand, his son, Locklyn, in the other, his wife by their sides.

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“I think about it all the time,” Taylor said Wednesday ahead of his first title defense in 11 years. “It's definitely some memories I'll have with me forever. ...

“It was just kind of crazy how everything can come together. It's a classic example of low expectations. I just kind of left it in God's hands and however it played out, that's how it played out. It's just really hard to believe that it turned out the way it did.

“I'm just very fortunate and very blessed to have it happen that way.”

Fade in to the opening of Taylor’s sequel and he’s in Los Angeles the following week of Pebble, appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter, accepting congratulations from fellow pros and people he’d never met, doing interviews left and right. But then the story goes cold as Taylor, 40, missed five consecutive cuts and nine of his first 13 starts after leaving Pebble.

“Looking back, afterwards, my life just kind of got flipped upside down and I probably didn't handle it the greatest,” he said. “But it was a learning experience. It was tough to concentrate on the golf course, and I just had a tough time with it. … But I don't think I've ever seen my wife as relaxed and chilled out as she was. We just had this huge calmness over us. It was just a huge relief off of our shoulders and just really a fun time in our life.”

Heading into his 10th start at Pebble, Taylor has changed the script. He has made his last nine cuts and is ranked No. 149 in the world.

“I've been playing pretty well. Game’s in pretty good shape,” he said. “Short game's been kind of sketchy. Haven't chipped and putted it and wedged it as good as I would like. But overall, everything feels pretty good and I feel like I'm on track. So we'll just see how the week goes. ...

“I haven’t defended a title in a long, long time. I'm trying not to think about it too much. I'm trying to just go about my business as normal, but it's definitely a different feeling. And it's a good one. It's nice to come back to a place where you're the only champion and you get to relive it.”

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