Despite 'roller coaster' quadruple bogey, Taylor Montgomery in contention at Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches
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Taylor Montgomery cards quadruple bogey at Cognizant Classic
Written by Paul Hodowanic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Taylor Montgomery has seen it all with his own golf game. He’s as prone to hitting a disastrous tee ball as he is a miraculous recovery shot. When he plays, anything is possible.
“My game has always been a roller coaster, so it's nothing new to me,” Montgomery said. “I've done some of the best things that I've seen and some of the worst. It's just how I play golf.”
He had a mix of both on Saturday.
Montgomery arrived at the 15th tee at PGA National Resort – the start of "The Bear Trap" – with a one-shot lead in the third round. His tee shot on the difficult 163-yard par-3, which requires around a 160-yard carry over water, never had a chance, dropping into the pond. His next shot from the drop zone barely cleared the water and spun back, settling against the rock wall and making his next shot unplayable. From there, he safely hit another shot from the drop zone to the back of the green and two-putted for a quadruple bogey.
“I've been struggling with right pins pretty much my whole life. I'm not a very good fader of the ball,” Montgomery said. “Obviously trying to fade it there on 15, and just -- you let your mind up in this game for one second, and it can bite you.”
The quadruple bogey dropped Montgomery out of the lead, but the Las Vegas native did his best to keep it from sinking his tournament. Montgomery birdied the par-4 16th and par-5 18th to shoot 68 and finish 13-under, three shots back of 54-hole leader Jake Knapp.
Taylor Montgomery converts bounce-back birdie at Cognizant Classic
His start to the Cognizant Classic is his best in more than a year. Montgomery spent much of 2024 battling a shoulder injury that significantly impacted his performance. This week is the first time Montgomery is inside the top-10 through 54 holes since the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.
There’s a lot at stake on Sunday for Montgomery, who is competing on a Major Medical Extension and needs a three-way T13 or better to reach his top-125 number. If he does, he will earn a spot in THE PLAYERS Championship and be eligible to compete out of the major medical category for the remainder of the 2025 season.
