Canadian Taylor Pendrith sees 'lots of positives' after close call on PGA Tour

Just over 24 hours after seeing an opportunity for his first career PGA Tour win slip away, Canadian rookie Taylor Pendrith wasn’t having any trouble looking at the bright side.

“I’ve had time to think about what went on and how I feel. It was an awesome week,” the 30-year-old native of Richmond Hill, Ont., said in a telephone interview from his hotel room during a quick stop in New York on Monday night. “I learned a few things and it was my best PGA Tour finish of my career so far, so there are lots of positives.”

The big-hitting Pendrith wasn’t the first – and won’t be the last – golfer to struggle in the final round on a big stage for the first time.

Leading by three entering the final round of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Pendrith shot a 5-over 76 on a windy, wet and miserable Sunday and settled for a tie for fifth – falling short of completing a storybook October after he got married just over two weeks earlier to Meg Beirnes in Cambridge, Ont.

“Sunday, it kind of got away from me a little,” Pendrith said. “I didn’t have the best round and the weather wasn’t great, but no excuses. It was the same for everyone.”

However, the glass seems far more than half full – considering it was just Pendrith’s fourth start as a PGA Tour member (he has yet to miss the cut). He also didn’t get a chance to play the course in Bermuda before the opening round because of travel and weather woes – and had barely golfed since tying the knot and enjoying a few days in Muskoka, Ont., as well as taking in the Toronto Raptors’ opener with his new wife.

“I felt very unprepared,” Pendrith said. “Obviously, it worked out.”

Pendrith was one off the lead when he pulled his drive into the water on the par-5 17th. Another shot in the water led to a double bogey, ending his chances.

Put that tee shot on the fairway, his coach Derek Ingram figures, and Pendrith has a middle iron to the green and an excellent chance to be tied for the lead.

Still, Pendrith collected a cheque for more than $251,000, moved into a tie for 32nd in the FedExCup standings and heads into Thursday’s first round of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Riviera Maya, Mexico, with confidence.

“He’s smart like that,” Ingram said of Pendrith’s attitude. “He’s not going to beat himself up for weeks on end. In reality, there are great things to take out of it. There’s a little bit of learning and then you move on.”

Pendrith has learned from experience. He remembers flying down to Palm Harbor, Fla., in 2018 to watch fellow Canadian PGA Tour member Corey Conners – his teammate and former roommate at Kent State University in Ohio – after he took the 54-hole lead as a rookie at the Valspar Championship. Conners stumbled to a 6-over 77 that Sunday.

“I felt horribly for him because he had a really good chance to win,” Pendrith said.

Conners – who stood up for Pendrith and his wife as the best man at their wedding, just like Pendrith was for him – didn’t sulk after that disappointment. He now sits 36th in the world golf rankings and captured his first PGA Tour title at the Valero Texas Open in 2019.

Pendrith talked to Conners and another fellow PGA Tour Canadian and ex-Kent State teammate, Mackenzie Hughes, after Sunday’s round and they both had words of encouragement.

“Many golfers have been there at some point in their careers. You learn from it and you become better,” Pendrith said. “They were proud of how I competed and never gave up.”

Determination doesn’t seem to be an issue for Pendrith. He has gone long stretches without seeing his wife the past few years because he was earning his PGA Tour card on the Korn Ferry Tour (Pendrith was seventh in the standings and third in length off the tee in 2020-21) while she was working as a nurse in Hamilton, Ont., during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They bought a house in West Palm Beach, Fla., at the end of June – and Pendrith figures they’ve spent about 10 days there.

But they’re making up for lost time. Beirnes, who is now taking casual shifts as a nurse, was in Bermuda to watch Pendrith for the first time as a PGA Tour member, and also is in Mexico.

“Busy couple of weeks,” Pendrith said, “but all good stuff.”

Also good is Pendrith’s health. After opening eyes by being one shot off the lead as an amateur following the first round at the 2014 RBC Canadian Open and then making the cut, many figured Pendrith was on the fast track to pro success.

But a long list of injuries – arm, shoulder, wrist and hand – for a guy who developed his power as a high-level baseball player as a kid kept him sidelined for months.

Pendrith bounced between the Mackenzie Tour in Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour before finally enjoying a run of good play and health in the pandemic-interrupted 2020-21 season – he also earned a spot in the 2020 U.S. Open and tied for 23rd.

“Him and I joked that when he gets on the PGA Tour, people are going to call him an overnight success,” Ingram said. “He’s had to work for everything he’s got. It’s been an eight- or nine-year journey. It has not been easy.”

Pendrith feels practising less in recent years has led to improved health.

“I’m really kind of limiting the hours I hit the ball on the range. I think that cost me before,” he said.

The main goals for the 2021-22 season, Pendrith said, are to get a win and finish in the top 125 to keep his tour card.

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“I have high expectations for him and I know he can achieve them,” Ingram said. “Every time you get on the PGA Tour for the first year, the goal is to keep your card and … to start to work your way up the world rankings. I see him as a top-50 player in the world in a few years and maybe even better than that.

“I think he has tremendous potential.”

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