Canadian golfer Nick Taylor is coming off a year of firsts: acquiring his first PGA Tour card, playing his first full season at his sport’s top level and recording his first tournament victory as a professional.

He’s ready for another first at this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Taylor will be a defending champion for the first time at the US$4.1-million event.

“It’s quite the experience, it’s something that I haven’t done before,” Taylor said Tuesday during a conference call. “So I’m excited to be here for this week. A lot of good memories coming back here.”

Taylor overcame a four-shot deficit on the final day last year at the Country Club of Jackson and then held off Americans Boo Weekley and Jason Bohn for a two-shot victory. The Canadian potted a cool $720,000 for the win.

The tournament is played over the same week as the WGC-HSBC Champions event, so the highest-ranked player in the field is No. 62 Brendon Todd. Former major champions Lucas Glover, Trevor Immelman and David Toms are also slated to play on the 7,354-yard, par-72 course.

Taylor broke through last season after spending his first few years on lower-level tours. He played 24 events on the Web.com Tour in 2014 before his solid rookie campaign on the PGA Tour.

The 27-year-old Winnipeg native said he has worked on being more patient on the course.

“A lot of times I was trying to force some things on the weekends and it just wasn’t panning out,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t having great finishes. So far this year, I think I’ve played pretty well on the weekends. That’s a bit of learning from last year.

“So it’s been nice to look back and try to improve on that.”

The Tour’s 2015-’16 season kicked off last month. Taylor has already earned over $63,000 after making the cut at two of his first three tournaments.

He’s planning a practice round Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s opening round.

“This will be my last tournament of this calendar year so I kind of want to go out with a bang,” Taylor said. “I’m excited to be back here and give myself a chance to defend. You don’t get to say that very often. I’m excited to give it my all and see how it goes.

“I think I’m playing really well and I just want to see if I can pull it off again.”

Taylor was the first Canadian-born winner on the PGA Tour since Mike Weir’s 2007 victory at the Frys.com Open.

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