Weeks Taylor Pendrith Fights For First Pga Tour Win At Rocket Mortgage Classic

“Obviously this course showed some low scores, so you’ve got to keep making birdies if you want to stay in it,” Pendrith said. No one in the field has made more birdies this week than the Canadian, who has 25 through three rounds, including eight on Saturday, as he and Finau battled back and forth all day. After bogeying the par-4 13th hole when his tee shot sailed left and ended up behind a tree, Pendrith rallied, adding birdies on the next three holes – a par-5, a par-3 and a par-4. He made one more on the final hole, hitting a 10-footer to move to 21-under par. “Thirteen, he just hit a bad tee and maybe made a little break right behind the tree,” Pendrith explained. “To get three in a row after that was a big boost and obviously I’m setting myself up well for tomorrow with those three holes, and to get one on the last one was great.” Finau, who won the 3M Championship last week, tried to keep pace with the Canadian, making seven birdies as the two long-shots went back and forth throughout the day. “Obviously he made a ton of birdies and I finished the round with a lot of birdies, so it was fun,” Pendrith said. “We were going back and forth. Tony bombed it off the tee and I hit it away so it was fun, kind of games like that I guess, and we attacked him really well.” For his time, Pendrith missed only three fairways and only two greens. He ranks fourth in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, second in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and third in Strokes Gained: Putting. Pendrith’s career has been one of resilience. He attended Kent State University where he stayed with Corey Conners for four years. Both appeared headed for big things after graduation, but while Conners has had a steady path to the PGA Tour and a high spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, Pendrith has battled injuries and spent time between the PGA Tour Canada and of the Korn Ferry Tour. After two years spent on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and 2021, when COVID halted any promotion from the junior tour, he finally graduated to the PGA Tour this season. But hard luck continued to plague his career. After a good start that included a maiden victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October when he had a 54-hole lead, Pendrith broke a rib during the Players Championship, sidelining him for three and a half months. Now, in his return, 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 he’s playing great,” Pendrith said. “I’ve got a good chance tomorrow to tie with him going into Sunday, so there’s 18 holes of golf left and who knows what’s going to happen. I feel like my game is in a good spot, I’m driving it well, I’m hitting my wedges well, it’s nice to see some points coming in. We’ll see. It’s going to be a fun experience and I’m just looking forward to racing and seeing what happens.” Despite the two being four shots ahead of the rest of the field, Finau warned that with golf abandoning the low rounds, it could be easy for the two leaders to knock a player back into the field. “Taylor is playing great golf,” he said. “I can’t say I’ve moved away from the guys, this is the type of golf course where someone can shoot eight, nine, 10 under, but if we have a good round tomorrow, it could be a two-man race and I’m looking forward to again for the challenge.” A win would give Pendrith a package or rewards including a $1.5 million check. He would earn a two-year exemption from the Tour as well as an exemption from the Masters and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He would also become just the 16th Canadian to win on the PGA Tour and the first since Nick Taylor won at Pebble Beach in 2020.

title: “Weeks Taylor Pendrith Fights For First Pga Tour Win At Rocket Mortgage Classic " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-22” author: “Robert Lutz”

“Obviously this course showed some low scores, so you’ve got to keep making birdies if you want to stay in it,” Pendrith said. No one in the field has made more birdies this week than the Canadian, who has 25 through three rounds, including eight on Saturday, as he and Finau battled back and forth all day. After bogeying the par-4 13th hole when his tee shot sailed left and ended up behind a tree, Pendrith rallied, adding birdies on the next three holes – a par-5, a par-3 and a par-4. He made one more on the final hole, hitting a 10-footer to move to 21-under par. “Thirteen, he just hit a bad tee and maybe made a little break right behind the tree,” Pendrith explained. “To get three in a row after that was a big boost and obviously I’m setting myself up well for tomorrow with those three holes, and to get one on the last one was great.” Finau, who won the 3M Championship last week, tried to keep pace with the Canadian, making seven birdies as the two long-shots went back and forth throughout the day. “Obviously he made a ton of birdies and I finished the round with a lot of birdies, so it was fun,” Pendrith said. “We were going back and forth. Tony bombed it off the tee and I hit it away so it was fun, kind of games like that I guess, and we attacked him really well.” For his time, Pendrith missed only three fairways and only two greens. He ranks fourth in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, second in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and third in Strokes Gained: Putting. Pendrith’s career has been one of resilience. He attended Kent State University where he stayed with Corey Conners for four years. Both appeared headed for big things after graduation, but while Conners has had a steady path to the PGA Tour and a high spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, Pendrith has battled injuries and spent time between the PGA Tour Canada and of the Korn Ferry Tour. After two years spent on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and 2021, when COVID halted any promotion from the junior tour, he finally graduated to the PGA Tour this season. But hard luck continued to plague his career. After a good start that included a maiden victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October when he had a 54-hole lead, Pendrith broke a rib during the Players Championship, sidelining him for three and a half months. Now, in his return, 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 he’s playing great,” Pendrith said. “I’ve got a good chance tomorrow to tie with him going into Sunday, so there’s 18 holes of golf left and who knows what’s going to happen. I feel like my game is in a good spot, I’m driving it well, I’m hitting my wedges well, it’s nice to see some points coming in. We’ll see. It’s going to be a fun experience and I’m just looking forward to racing and seeing what happens.” Despite the two being four shots ahead of the rest of the field, Finau warned that with golf abandoning the low rounds, it could be easy for the two leaders to knock a player back into the field. “Taylor is playing great golf,” he said. “I can’t say I’ve moved away from the guys, this is the type of golf course where someone can shoot eight, nine, 10 under, but if we have a good round tomorrow, it could be a two-man race and I’m looking forward to again for the challenge.” A win would give Pendrith a package or rewards including a $1.5 million check. He would earn a two-year exemption from the Tour as well as an exemption from the Masters and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He would also become just the 16th Canadian to win on the PGA Tour and the first since Nick Taylor won at Pebble Beach in 2020.