Taylor Pendrith made 10 birdies on Thursday but was denied a final-hole eagle to shoot 59. Was he thinking of shooting the 15th sub-60 round on the PGA Tour at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Open?
“Yeah, obviously,” he said in a post-round interview. “I tried to hit a great shot and just came off it a little bit. It was close to being really good, I think.”
Pendrith had blasted a 356-yard drive leaving just a 7-iron from 203 yards. But with the flag position in the front of the green, he caught it heavy and found the front greenside bunker. It was the only place he couldn’t miss.
“Me and my caddie didn’t really talk about it, but I think we both knew I was going to try and hole the bunker shot,” he said. “Of course, I was going to try to hole bunker shot. It was a tricky one, but, yeah, I gave it my best.”
The Canadian blasted 12 feet past the hole, missed the birdie putt and settled for 10-under 61, tying his career low on Tour, but still good enough for a three-stroke lead over 12 players.
Pendrith, who represented the International Team at the Presidents Cup last month and won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May, had it going like the gambler rolling his number at the craps tables. After a par on his first hole, No. 10, Pendrith’s heater began with birdies on five of the next six holes on his first nine as he kept sticking approach shots inside 10 feet. At the 453-yard par-4, No. 4, he wedged inside a foot for the tap-in birdie. Pendrith was long and accurate and his putter cooperated too – a beautiful combination. He ranked first in driving distance (329 yards), fourth in Strokes Gained: Approach and first in SG: Putting.
Expectations this week for Pendrith were tempered after playing just three times since the Presidents Cup and unable to play in South Florida as Hurricane Milton kept him off the course.
“I thought I would be a little bit more rusty than that,” Pendrith said. “You know, obviously thrilled and yeah, just got to keep getting back into the rhythm of things and the next few days. Yeah, feel good.”
“I’m definitely expecting more crowds to be louder and for them to be on our side.”
The International team wants more from the home crowd.
It was a drubbing Thursday at the 2024 Presidents Cup, with the United States winning all five matches and taking a 5-0 lead heading into Friday’s foursomes at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. The Internationals were close in a handful of matches late, but the United States made putts and clutch shots down the stretch as the International team faltered.
At the end of the day, there wasn’t much to cheer on for the Canadian fans in Montreal, but a couple players were wanting more from the fans after the opening day of play.
“We need to get louder, I think, the next few days here and really feel the home support,” said Canadian Taylor Pendrith.
Added Tom Kim, who broke out as a star at the Presidents Cup in 2022: “Definitely when the crowds are with us, it definitely helps when you can kind of get loud. Like Taylor said, I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil. I don’t think the fans were really — I wish they would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada. I know how much they love golf.
“I’m definitely expecting more crowds to be louder and for them to be on our side.”
A better showing from the International team will held the crowd get back into it as the Presidents Cup moves into the weekend, but there’s no doubt a raucous home crowd is needed for the Internationals to have any chance of a comeback.
“I thought the crowds were good today,” International captain Mike Weir said. “I think you get a little momentum going on your side, that’s when the crowds can get going. I think everybody is excited, nervous, and I think the crowds are going to be louder and louder as we go along here.”
DRIVER:Ping G430 LST (9 degrees), with Accra TZ Six ST shaft
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FAIRWAY WOODS:Ping G430 Max (15 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 80 6.5 TX shaft, G425 Max (20.5 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green 90 6.5 TX shaft
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The 32-year-old won the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, on Sunday after a late birdie on the 72nd hole to secure his first-ever win on the PGA Tour in his 74th start.
For his efforts, Pendrith will take home the top prize of $1.71 million, while Kohles, who was in the lead before a bogey on the par-5 18th, will bank $1.03 million as a consolation prize.
With $9 million up for grabs, check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson near Dallas.
McKINNEY, Texas — Taylor Pendrith stepped on the 18th green trailing by a shot. He walked off of it a winner of his first PGA Tour event.
Pendrith, the 32-year-old Canadian, captured the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson title on Sunday at TPC Craig Ranch thanks to a 4-under 67 effort, but also in part due to a major mistake by one of his playing partners, Ben Kohles. Kohles carded consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-17 to take a one-shot lead into the 72nd hole, but a duffed chip and missed par putt from 5 feet, 6 inches resulted in the lone bogey of the day on the par-5 18th and gave Pendrith a chance to win it outright, which he converted.
“It was wild,” Pendrith said. “I hit a really nice shot in there 35 feet probably for eagle and Ben was in a little bit of a tricky spot. He’d been playing so good all day. I expected him to have a putt at birdie, so I was fully prepared to try and make that putt. I didn’t hit the best putt. I was a little disappointed that I left it short, but then when he missed his par putt and I realized I had a putt for the win, it was all a blur really.
“I’ve never had a putt to win a PGA Tour event, so my caddie said this is the straightest putt we’ve had all year and just knock it in. It managed to slip in the left. I’m pretty happy.”
Fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes celebrated greenside with Pendrith, along with wife Meg and son Hayes. Pendrith said he was at Hughes’ first win at the RSM Classic in 2016, so for Hughes, also a former teammate at Kent State, to be the first player to congratulate him was special.
The win is pivotal for many reasons. One, it gets Pendrith into next week’s Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina. It also gets him one step closer to representing Canada in this year’s Presidents Cup, to be held at Royal Montreal.
However, as much as Pendrith drilled the 3 footer for his first Tour victory, Ben Kohles painfully gave him an avenue for an outright win.
Kohles, a 34-year-old who was also in the final pairing earlier this year at the Puerto Rico Open, stuffed his approach shot to 2 feet, 4 inches on the par-4 16th, then he drained a 20 footer for birdie on the par-3 17th hole, giving him a one-shot lead walking to the 18th.
His tee shot drifted left into the rough, but his second ended up in a patch of rough in front of the 18th green. He had 51 feet to the hole for his third shot, which seems like a routine greenside pitch. It went 23 feet and ended up in a worse lie.
“It was sitting up a little bit, but honestly hadn’t seen any rough like that all week,” Kohles said. “Just didn’t hit a great shot. Just needed a little bit more umph on it. I maybe deceled a little bit, but you live and you learn.”
His fourth shot landed and kicked hard left off the slope, leaving him a 5 footer for par. He missed it, opening the door for Pendrith to pounce.
And he did.
Pendrith said he thought an eagle was needed just to get into a playoff on the final hole, and he pounded what he called his best drive of the week on the closing hole. Then his approach found the back of the green, and he lagged his eagle attempt to 3 feet.
Kohles, who earned the best finish of his Tour career with a solo second, then missed his par putt, one he said was a good putt, just the wrong line. Pendrith then stepped up, knocked in the winning birdie to finish at 23 under, the same winning score as Jason Day last year, and the celebration was on.
Pendrith is the fifth first-time Tour winner this season, the first since Stephan Jaeger at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, and it came in his 74th career start.
“Byron Nelson is a special name, and for my name to be on that trophy is super special,” Pendrith said. “You know, it feels unbelievable, and to see some of those names on this trophy, it’s crazy. I still can’t believe that I’m a winner of this tournament. But I’m sure it’ll kick in soon. Yeah, feels great.”
Taylor Pendrith and his family pose with the trophy after winning the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson. (Photo: Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports)
Jake Knapp, the 36-hole leader and winner of the Mexico Open earlier this year, was stuck in neutral most of the day after starting Sunday a stroke off the lead. He finished solo eighth. Alex Noren signed for a 65 and a solo third finish at 21 under.
Kris Kim, the 16-year-old amateur from England who became the fifth-youngest player to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, shot 2 over in the final round to finish at 6 under for the week.
“I think just playing in front of the fans this week,” said Kim on what he’ll remember most. “It’s been quite a bit of adrenaline and everything. It’s been really good. Just makes me want to come back even more.”
Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.
SAN DIEGO — Someone forgot to tell the players moving day came early this week at the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open.
Just 18 of the 79 players who made the cut were under par on Friday on the South Course at Torrey Pines, and the low rounds of the day were a pair of 4-under 68s from Ryan Brehm and Will Zalatoris.
The third round featured the return of the CBS walk-and-talk with a San Diego native, a new swing analysis tool, the return of a rising PGA Tour star and a gritty golf course fit for a testy Saturday finale. Here’s what you missed from the third round of the 2024 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Like most years, we had a bunch of names most of us have never heard of near the top of the leaderboard. Some of the marquee names made a move. Some marquee names made a move in the wrong direction.
And for the fourth straight year, there won’t be a repeat champion.
So pretty much par for the course at the halfway point of the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Detroit Golf Club.
At the very top of the leaderboard sat two journeymen and two Taylors. Taylor Moore, a first-time winner in March at the Valspar Championship, and Canadian Taylor Pendrith held a one-shot lead at 13-under 131. Moore, who’s ranked 51st in the world, shot 67 on Friday. Pendrith, who’s ranked 127th, shot a 64.
Hot on their heels were two of the tournament’s biggest names. Rickie Fowler caught fire late in the afternoon, eagled the par-5 17th, added six more birdies and shot 65 to reach 12-under 132. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa eagled the par-5 14th, shot 67 and was at 11-under 133.
Fowler struggled on the “bouncy” and “beat up” greens in the first round, but avoided that problem by simply hitting it close for several tap-ins Friday. Two weeks ago at the U.S. Open, he closed with a 75 and tied for fifth. Last week at the Travelers Championship, he followed a third-round 60 with a 69 in final round and tied for 13th.
On Saturday, Fowler will be in the second-to-last group, in prime position knowing what he must, and must not, do.
“I mean, the biggest thing, we can’t try and press too hard,” he said. “I definitely know we can win. … How I’ve played is some of the best if not the best I’ve felt about my game and on the course really ever.”
This is the blessing and the curse of the Rocket. Anybody — and I mean anybody — can win this thing.
Rickie Fowler walks to the second green during Round 2 of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Friday, June 29, 2023, at the Detroit Golf Club.
Fowler, a big fan favorite here, can bounce back from his U.S. Open faceplant and win this thing. But so can a guy you’ve probably never heard of named Andrew Landry. He won two tournaments a few years ago, but now he’s the 660th-ranked player in the world and on the road back from two shoulder surgeries. He had a bogey-free round with nine birdies for a 63 that tied Nate Lashley’s 2019 tournament record. That put him at 10-under 134.
Moore’s another example of a player on his own road to redemption. He was lucky to survive a collapsed lung in 2019 and missed the cut in his past two tournaments. Last year, he finished sixth at the Rocket and now he’s regaining his confidence with everything clicking. He went out early in the morning and outplayed partner Max Homa, the world No. 9 who shot 68.
“It might be a little bit of that,” he said of his growing confidence, “but golf’s just such a finicky game.”
In a way, I’ve always looked at the Rocket as a proving ground on the PGA Tour. A place where people can find their swings and some confidence. Or where players suddenly lose their mojo and make their exit.
— Rocket Mortgage Classic (@RocketClassic) June 30, 2023
Defending champion Tony Finau closed with a 38 on the back nine, shot 72-71 to finish at 1-under 143. The cut was at 4-under 140. Finau is still looking for his first top 10 since he won the Mexico Open in April.
Justin Thomas, a two-time major champ who made his Rocket debut, was the tournament’s biggest disappointment. He rallied from a disastrous opening 76 with a 69 on Friday and finished at one-over 145.
Playing well at the right time is always the key winning in golf. But so is the right attitude and it’s a secret Morikawa might have a unlocked better than anyone so far this week in Detroit. The player with an ever-present smile kept his promise to sign autographs following a quick break after his first round and he’s embraced the city, having dinner downtown taking in the Morgan Wallen concert at Ford Field.
“Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “Look, golf is meant to be enjoyable. We’re out here to have a good time. It’s frustrating at times as well, but so far this week has been amazing. The people out here, the fans have been great, we saw a lot of people out here today. So it’s been a nice ride.
“This is when work really starts. Make the weekend, you’re in contention and we just want to post two really low numbers this weekend.”
That’s certainly the key for Morikawa and Fowler. But it could also be the key for half of the remaining field.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.
Rickie, Collin and Ludvig are lurking heading into the weekend at Detroit Golf Club.
DETROIT – Taylor Moore is striking a pose this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The 29-year-old Arkansas grad backed up his opening-round 64 with a 67 at Detroit Golf Club on Friday to share the 36-hole lead with Taylor Pendrith.
Moore, who claimed his first PGA Tour win at the Valspar Championship in March, had missed three straight cuts and shot in the 70s in 11 of his last 13 rounds.
“I think in the past I might have hit panic a little bit with how my game’s been, scores that I posted, tried to really reinvent some stuff and try to make a quick fix,” Moore said. “But my golf swing’s good, mentality’s good, just going to keep playing golf and I feel like I would eventually play myself out of some of the scores I was shooting. Thus far I’ve done that.”
Indeed, he has thanks to a hot putter. Moore ranks first in Strokes Gained: Putting (+7.602), and already holed more than 226 feet of putts. But his focus has been on holding his finish on his swing, and so far it’s done the trick.
“That’s kind of just always been something for me as a junior golfer all the way through my golf career, that’s kind of brought me back just to hitting better shots and more quality shots and just kind of staying there until the ball’s finished,” he said. “That’s something I’ve tried to bring back this week.”
Here are four more things to know about the second round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Gusting wind and rain on Saturday at the 2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am forced tournament officials to call play early, pushing the PGA Tour’s annual stop on the Monterey Peninsula to a Monday finish, the first at Pebble Beach since 2019.
After the third-round action finished early Sunday afternoon, the final round began at 3:20 p.m. ET. Each player completed the front nine, and of the 75 players to make the cut, 16 completed their round.
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Here’s a look at the International Team heading to Charlotte.
It’s time for the 2022 Presidents Cup.
The competition will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina at Quail Hollow Club. The course is a regular stop on the PGA Tour, hosting the Wells Fargo Championship, as well as the 2017 PGA Championship.
Now, some of the best players from around the world, Europe excluded, will come together and look to win on American soil for the first time in the event’s history.
Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, is the captain for the International squad, and he has four assistant captains: K.J. Choi, Geoff Ogilvy, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir.
Here’s a look at the 12 players representing the International team in the 2022 Presidents Cup:
