Taylor Allen Montgomery (born January 30, 1995) is an American professional golfer.[2] He plays on the PGA Tour.[3]

Taylor Montgomery
Personal information
Full nameTaylor Allen Montgomery
Born (1995-01-30) January 30, 1995 (age 29)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight215 lb (98 kg; 15.4 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada
Career
CollegeUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas
Turned professional2017
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins1
Highest ranking51 (January 29, 2023)[1]
(as of November 24, 2024)
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipT65: 2023
U.S. OpenT57: 2021
The Open ChampionshipDNP

Personal life

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The son of Mikella and Monte Montgomery, Montgomery was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 30, 1995. His father Monte is originally from Colorado, and was a walk-on golfer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He played for the UNLV Rebels from 1989 to 1992, becoming a second-team All-American. Monte made his sole appearance on the PGA Tour in 1994, after Monday qualifying for the Buick Invitational of California, held at Torrey Pines Golf Course. He finished in 24th place.[3] Monte later became the general manager at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas.[4]

Amateur career

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Montgomery graduated from Foothill High School in 2013, where he lettered all four years in golf. He won the state's 4A boys high school individual championship in 2011 and 2013. He was also a starter for the school's basketball team, playing from 2011 to 2013 as a forward.[2]

Montgomery then followed in the footsteps of his father and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he played collegiate golf. He was coached by the long-time leader of the UNLV golf program, Dwaine Knight. This was the first father-son combination to both have played under Coach Knight.[2] As a sophomore, Montgomery won the 2014 Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, with a score of 10-under 206, one ahead of AJ McInerney and Yannik Paul.[5]

Montgomery struggled with his golf game in the final two years at university and often could not make the team. He had difficulties keeping the ball in play, causing him to use no more than 2-iron off the tee throughout the entirety of some tournaments. UNLV teammate Harry Hall said Montgomery has "always been a great chipper and putter" but struggled getting the ball to the green during that time.[6] Montgomery majored in communications and graduated in 2017.[2]

Professional career

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Montgomery turned professional in 2017. In October of that year, he won the inaugural Major Series of Putting tournament.[7] He received a prize of $75,000, and also won another $15,000 for winning the team portion of the tournament with his former UNLV teammate Kurt Kitayama. This prize money helped to bankroll Montgomery's burgeoning golf career.[3]

In September 2018, Montgomery birdied the first playoff hole to win the Sand Hollow Leavitt Group Open, a mini-tour event in Utah. This win granted Montgomery an exemption to play in the 2019 Utah Championship on the Web.com Tour.[7]

Professional wins (1)

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Other wins (1)

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No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 Aug 11, 2019 Long Beach Open −24 (65-67-64-68=264) 5 strokes   Blake Abercrombie,   Matt Picanso

Playoff record

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Korn Ferry Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2021 LECOM Suncoast Classic   Dawson Armstrong,   Hayden Buckley Buckley won with birdie on first extra hole

Results in major championships

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Tournament 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship T65
U.S. Open T57 CUT CUT
The Open Championship
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

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Tournament 2023 2024
The Players Championship T44 T11

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

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Tournament 2023
Match Play T17

"T" = Tied

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Week 4 2023 Ending 29 Jan 2023" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Taylor Montgomery – Men's Golf". University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Leonard, Tod (January 24, 2023). "This rookie is one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour, and he's got wild tales about getting here". Golf Digest. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Kantowski, Ron (May 8, 2017). "UNLV's Taylor Montgomery and caddy one of many stories at US Open qualifier". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "UNLV holds off Colorado to win Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational". Air Force Academy Athletics. September 7, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  6. ^ Prise, Kevin (October 4, 2022). "Taylor Montgomery looks right at home on PGA Tour". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Hurlburt, Brian (September 25, 2018). "PGA Tour dream drives former Rebel Taylor Montgomery to Utah title". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
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