Taylor Pendrith’s hole-out sparks low round among Canadians at PGA
Pendrith’s round was highlighted by an eagle hole-out from 173 yards on the par-4 3rd. He used a nine iron, and the ball ran up to the cup perfectly before taking a three-quarter spin around the hole and in.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Taylor Pendrith rallied after an impressive eagle hole-out from the fairway Thursday at the PGA Championship and had the best day of the Canadian contingent at the second major of the year.
Pendrith, the lone Canadian under-par after 18 holes, shot a 2-under 69.
Pendrith’s round was highlighted by an eagle hole-out from 168 yards on the par-4 3rd. He used a nine iron, and the ball ran up to the cup perfectly before taking a three-quarter spin around the hole and in.
Pendrith told Sportsnet he felt he was between clubs and tried to hit a low-flighted shot and skip it towards the hole.
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“Pulled it a little bit but it skipped up the hill and went in. Obviously, a big bonus there, but I was happy to see it go down,” Pendrith said.
Pendrith started on the back nine and made two quick birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. He gave those back with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17 – which ranked as the two hardest holes of the day. He made another bogey on the par-3 6th before adding a final birdie on the par-5 7th.
He sits tied for 20th after the opening round at Quail Hollow.
The native of Richmond Hill, Ont. leaned on the best part of his game in a big way Thursday, as he sat third in the field in strokes gained: off the tee. He was also seventh in greens in regulation, and 51st in strokes gained: putting. That is an incredible near-100 spot improvement on his to-date effort in that stat.
“I felt like I was really patient. Did a good job of that. I drove the ball pretty nicely. Got a couple of really good breaks. Obviously, holing out from the fairway on a really difficult hole is a bonus,” Pendrith said. “Felt like I hit the ball pretty well and my speed on the greens was good. Overall, I’m pleased.”
Corey Conners was the only Canadian to tee off in the morning Thursday but had his share of struggles. Conners shot a 2-over 73 and admitted afterwards he was very disappointed in his day-one effort.
“I felt like I hit the ball fine, gave myself some looks, kept myself in decent position just scored the ball… horrendously,” Conners said with a self-deprecating smile.
Everything about Thursday seemed uncharacteristic for Conners, who hit 92 per cent of his fairways but only 50 per cent of the greens. He also lost more than a shot with his putter.
“Any time I had a decent look for birdie I wasn’t able to knock it in. Some sloppy bogeys throughout the round. Felt like the putter let me down. Wasn’t able to get any momentum going with that,” Conners said.
The rest of the Canadian contingent didn’t fare much better, as they were also all over par.
Adam Hadwin also shot a 2-over 73 while Nick Taylor shot a 5-over 76. Mackenzie Hughes, a member of Quail Hollow, made an eagle on the short par-4 14th – chipping in off the green – but couldn’t get anything else going. He came in with a 7-over 78.
