Pendrith Fights for First PGA Tour Victory at Rocket Mortgage Classic – TSN.ca

With birdies on four of his last five holes, Taylor Pendrith is 18 holes away from his first win on the PGA Tour. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native rides level with Tony Finau in Sunday’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. If it’s anything like Saturday, the last round should be a birdie fest.

“Obviously this course has shown some low scores, so you’ve just got to keep making birdies if you’re going to stay at it,” Pendrith said.

No one in the field has birdied more this week than the Canadian, who has 25 to three rounds, including eight on Saturday, as he and Finau battled back and forth all day.

After bogeying on the par 4 13th when his tee shot sailed left and landed behind a tree, Pendrith regrouped and added birdies on the next three holes – a par 5, a par 3 and a par 4 On the last hole, he made another one, hitting a 10-foot hole to get 21 under par.

“Thirteen, I just hit a bad tee shot and maybe had a little bad rest just behind the tree,” explained Pendrith. “Getting three in a row after that was a big boost and of course I set myself up well for tomorrow with those three holes and getting one on the last one was great.”

Finau, who won the 3M championship last week, tried to keep up with the Canadian and made seven birdies as the two long hitters went back and forth throughout the day.

“Obviously he made a lot of birdies and I finished the round with a lot of birdies so it was fun,” Pendrith said. “We drove back and forth. Tony bombs it off the tee and I hit it wide too so it was fun, fairly similar games I think and we attacked it very well.

Pendrith only missed three fairways and two greens for his day. Fourth in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, second in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, and third in Strokes Gained: Putting, he pushed his performance to the max.

Pendrith’s career has been one of resilience. He attended Kent State University, where he lived with Corey Conners for four years. Both seemed headed for big things after graduation, but while Conners embarked on a steady path to the PGA Tour and a high place in the official world golf rankings, Pendrith struggled with injuries and spent time bouncing back and forth between the PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour to switch here. After two years on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and 2021, when COVID halted all promotions from the Junior Tour, he finally graduated from the PGA Tour this season.

But bad luck continued to plague his career. After a good start that included a chance for a first win at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October while holding the 54-hole lead, Pendrith fractured a rib during the Players Championship and put him on the shelf for three and a half months. Now, on his comeback, he has put himself in position to cement his talent with a win.

“I probably have more pressure just because I’ve never won before and Tony is a multiple winner and he won last week and is playing great,” Pendrith said. “Tomorrow I have a good opportunity as I’m level with him by Sunday so there’s 18 holes of golf left and who knows what will happen. I feel like my game is in a good place, I’m driving it well, I’m hitting my wedges well, it’s nice to see some putts going in. We will see. It’s going to be a fun experience and I’m just looking forward to competing and seeing what happens.”

Although the two are four shots ahead of the rest of the field, Finau warned that it could be easy for the two leaders to be lapped by a player in the field if the golf club gives up low rounds.

“Taylor plays great golf,” he stated. “I can’t say it’s moved away from the lads, it’s the kind of golf course someone can hit an eight, nine, ten under but if we put together a good round tomorrow it could be a two man race and I’m looking forward to the new challenge.”

A win would give Pendrith a bundle or rewards, including a check for $1.5 million. He would receive a two-year waiver from the Tour, as well as a waiver from the Masters and Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was also just the 16th Canadian to win on the PGA Tour and the first since Nick Taylor’s win at Pebble Beach in 2020.