Taylor reached his fourth ranking event final at the 1985 Grand Prix, later that year. He faced Davis again and went to a deciding frame, but this time was beaten 9–10. this was the longest one-day final in history with a playing time of over 10 hours. Defending his world title at the 1986 World Snooker Championship, Taylor lost 6–10 in the opening round to Mike Hallett. In 1987, Taylor reached the final of the Masters for the only time in his career, where he played countryman Alex Higgins. Despite trailing 5–8, Taylor won the match 9–8. This would be the last time a Northern Irish player won a Triple Crown event until Mark Allen won the 2018 Masters. Taylor made the highest break of his career, a 141, at the 1987 Carling Challenge, which he won, defeating Joe Johnson in the final.