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Stars aligning for Taylor Pendrith as he makes Masters debut
Taylor Pendrith is the last of this generation of Canadian PGA Tour stars to tee it up at Augusta National. How’s he feeling about it? Adam Stanley checks in.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Taylor Pendrith’s mom, Jill, was walking past the sixth green at Augusta National as her son was practising alongside his childhood golfing hero, Mike Weir. She couldn’t believe it, of course. Pendrith grew up playing hockey and baseball at an extremely high level and nearly went to college to play the latter. So, to be here, at this place, wasn’t even a dream.
Until it was.
“Honestly, even the first few years playing college golf — I didn’t really know I was going to play professionally, so obviously I watched the Masters and I followed golf, but never really thought I would be here until probably the last few years,” Pendrith said Tuesday from Augusta National, where he is making his Masters debut this year. “Once I got my PGA Tour card, it became more of a reality that, Hey, if I do play well, I could get here.”
He is the last of this generation of Canadian PGA Tour stars to tee it up at Augusta National after he won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last year.
Along with all the other accolades that come with finding the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour, he also got the most coveted invite in the game. Although, he admitted with a laugh, since he and his family moved through the holiday season, he didn’t get the actual invite in his hands until long after it had been delivered.
It was worth it, of course.
Pendrith was finally 100 per cent healthy in 2024 after years of battling a myriad of injuries. Some strange, like one on his palm, and some nagging — a shoulder or an elbow thing would flare up.
Last year, though, his physical health was as good as it ever had been and he had been mentally strong, too — reconnecting with Golf Canada’s sports phycologist, Dr. Leslie TooGood, and sitting down with his team, including caddie Mitch Theoret, to put together a plan — a real plan — about finding success.
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“Everything has sort of just fallen into place,” Theoret told Sportsnet. “Everyone knew the talent was there and the work ethic was there all those years, but a lot of it was injury-related. And golf is just a funny world, where if you don’t play well at the right time, it sort of bites you in the butt. Last year, he stayed healthy for the most part and played really solid golf.
“The stars seemed to align last year. And everyone got a glimpse of who Taylor Pendrith is and could be, so I’m just super happy for him and had that year.”
Pendrith notched seven top-10s last year, including his win, and was the lone Canadian to make it to the season-finale Tour Championship, where he finished T14 and in the process earned nearly $5 million for the season. He was also 18th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total, and fifth in putting.
All in, it was as impressive a body of work as any in recent memory by a Canadian on the PGA Tour.
“Just before this time last year, when he wasn’t playing great (Pendrith missed four cuts in a row in February and into March), I said we were doing a lot of things right, it was just a matter of time before they all fell together. We had this talk in a parking lot, and then a month later he won,” Theoret said. “Big picture, when you analyze things that are going on, you’re a lot closer than where you want to be than you think.”
Pendrith has run hot and cold with the putter this season, sitting 128th in that same strokes gained: putting stat that he was fifth in a year ago. He is, however, second on Tour with the driver. He is a generational driver of the golf ball and, here at Augusta National, as long as he can keep putting himself in good spots off the tee, he can take on these tricky greens.
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Pendrith visited Augusta National a few weeks ago for an overnight stay and a practice game and said the greens now are much tighter as we inch closer to tournament time. There are some putts, Pendrith admitted, that he hit a few weeks ago that he hit again on Tuesday — and he had to add another three feet of break.
Pendrith will be grouped with Fred Couples for his first two spins in competition around Augusta National, and he saw Couples on the 10th tee while he, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor and Mike Weir made the turn.
The duo talked about hockey and specifically Alexander Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal, as Theoret’s long-time pal Dylan Strome assisted on it.
This Tuesday game, featuring Weir passing on as much knowledge as he can to his Canadian brethren, has become just as much a tradition as pimento cheese around these parts. Even Conners, who has notched three top-10 finishes at Augusta, was able to help his Ontario pal. And just because Pendrith is a debutant, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the tools to contend.
“He looked great out there. It was awesome to share that experience with him,” Conners said. “Tried to tell him a few of the things that I learned over the years, but I think this golf course is great for him. He hits it long and straight. Good iron player. Really creative. Good touch around the greens. I think it sets up great for him.”
There is, of course, still lots to learn. There’s a reason no first-timer has won since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 — although Ludvig Aberg came pretty close last year, finishing second alone to Scottie Scheffler.
There are little things to know and big things to be aware of and, frankly, it’s a lot. It’s the game’s ultimate test.
But Pendrith earned his way here he wants nothing more than to keep coming back.
“It’s my first Masters and it’s already been such a cool week — so I’m hoping to play well,” Pendrith said. “I think my game’s good and kind of suits the course well. Hopefully, get off to a good start on Thursday and just enjoy the week and see what happens.”
