Taylor content letting things fall into place

LA JOLLA, Calif. - Vaughn Taylor might look at the various ranking systems in professional golf with a combination of enthusiasm and queasiness.

In the revamped Ryder Cup points standings, Taylor currently ranks eighth in the race to make the 12-man team that will represent the United States later this year in Ireland.

In the Official World Golf Ranking, Taylor currently is 66th, two spots out of the WGC match play championship next month.

This is the good news. The bad news (if you can call it that) is that the Augusta golfer approaching his 30th birthday in March has never played a match-play event.

That's right. NEVER. Needless to say, Taylor isn't expecting U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman to pick him if he doesn't qualify on his own.

"I think he's go with a little more experience," Taylor said with a laugh.

Whether Lehman has that luxury is unknown. The volatility of the new points system, which gives quadruple points in a Ryder Cup year, had Lehman describing the process in racing terms.

"It's kind of a free-for-all," Lehman said. "Like the beginning of a NASCAR race, there's cars everywhere."

Taylor is one of those cars off to a rabbit start. How he hangs in through the twists and turns of the

season is uncertain, and Taylor won't get too caught up in it.

"I don't want to be involved in them until I'm ready," Taylor said of the international team competitions that often define the top-tier golfers. "I don't know when that will be, whether I'll be ready this year or in two years or whenever. If it happens this year, I hope I'm ready. I don't want to get thrown in the fire too quick."

To that end, Taylor has his eye set on trying to climb the two world ranking spots necessary to sneak into the WGC match play event at La Costa Resort and Spa. The deadline for the 64-player field is in two weeks, after Pebble Beach.

"I'd really like to get in there and get some match-play experience," Taylor said. "I think one good tournament would get me in."

So Taylor doesn't care if he climbs only as high as No. 64 and draws Tiger Woods - arguably the most prolific match-play winner in the world - as his first head-to-head opponent.

"I'm fine with anything in it," Taylor said.

That desire illustrates how far Taylor has come in his third season on the PGA Tour. He has made huge leaps from being a Monday qualifier on the Nationwide Tour as recently as 2003. He's one of only five current PGA Tour members younger than 30 with multiple victories (Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Jonathan Byrd and Ben Crane are the others).

Last year, Taylor finished in the top 40 on the money list and secured his first invitation to his hometown Masters Tournament in April.

With that opportunity on the horizon as well, Taylor wants to make a better early season splash than a year ago. His increased comfort level is showing.

For the second consecutive year, he started at the winners-only Mercedes Championships in Hawaii after defending his victory at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

The similarities of the two seasons end there. A year ago Taylor followed an eighth-place finish at Kapalua with six consecutive missed cuts.

This year, he improved to fourth in the Mercedes and backed it up with consecutive cuts made. He tied for 36th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, and on Friday made the cut in the Buick Invitational on the number.

"I'm learning a lot and definitely more comfortable," Taylor said. "Once you play well and get a little bit of respect, people get to know you a little bit and speak to you."

Where he takes it from here isn't something Taylor is fretting about.

"I've never been writing down goals," Taylor said. "I have a few things in my mind and adjust as I go along. If you make too many goals and they're too high, you put too much pressure on yourself and tend not to play well."

Still, Taylor aspires to be one of the players who gets the opportunity to play for his country - sooner or later.

"I hope it falls in place," he said. "There's a lot of guys over here that don't care if they're on the Ryder Cup team and are content with mediocre or whatever. But I would like to be up there eventually."

His startling lack of match-play experience aside, Taylor is off to a good start.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.