Taylor Pendrith Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

PGA Tour: Two weeks, two wins, 43-under par. Tony Finau is proving his doubters wrong

Matt Smith — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 06:33:26 +0000

By Dave Shedloski
Riding the momentum of his comeback victory at the 3M Open last week in Minnesota, Tony Finau played the most impeccable golf of his career and claimed the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday for his third PGA Tour win in his last 25 starts. A closing five-under 67 at Detroit Golf Club enabled the Utah native to pull away for a five-stroke victory over the trio of World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay and rookies Cameron Young and Taylor Pendrith.

In the last two weeks, the famously congenial Finau, 32, has been merciless against his peers. He is a combined 43-under par and is beginning to fulfill the promise he had shown through a series of tantalising near-misses — including eight second-place finishes — since winning the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. He suffered one bogey, that coming on the 65th hole of the tournament, in breaking the event’s 72-hole scoring record with a 26-under 262 total, one better than Nate Lashley’s effort in the inaugural edition in 2019.

Despite being fresh off an impressive victory, Finau felt like he still had something to prove this week. Mission accomplished. Actually, he accomplished two missions, because one of his goals this season was to record multiple victories.

“After bogeying the 18th hole [at the 3M Open] I had kind of a sour taste in my mouth, and I think it just gave me extra motivation to put myself there again this week and just prove to myself the kind of champion that I am and making birdies down the stretch when you really need them,” he explained in his post-round news conference. “So that’s all I tried to do. When I got to 14, my goal was to birdie 14 and 17. If I could do that, I knew I was going to win the golf tournament, and I was able to do that. I was just proud of the way I finished. I thought that this week I was able to prove to myself the champion that I feel like I am.”

Cantlay, the defending FedEx Cup champion, made an early run with five birdies in his first eight holes on the way to his tour-leading 10th top-10 finish of the 2021-22 season. He carded a six-under 66 and posted 21-under, while Young birdied four of his last six holes for a 68 and Pendrith had an up-and-down round of 72.

Cameron Young has taken over Tony Finau’s old role of stringing together close calls after finishing in a share of second for the fifth time in the 2021-22 PGA Tour season. Mike Mulholland

Young further fortified his credentials for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year with his fifth runner-up finish to join six others for most in a season in the last 40 years. The New Yorker owns seven top-three finishes — five coming in his last eight starts, including runner-up to Cameron Smith at the Open Championship in his previous outing.

“I’d be lying if I said it was easy to just watch other people win,” Young, 25, said. “Obviously, today Tony beat us all by a lot, but it’s not fun being that close that often and not having one. All in all, I think it’s a great thing. It proves that I can at least put myself there. Yeah, I think overall it’s a good thing, but definitely a little frustrating not to have won one yet.”

Pendrith, who began the day tied atop the leaderboard with Finau, couldn’t maintain the torrid pace of his first three rounds. Playing alongside Finau in the final pairing for the second straight day, the native of Canada registered his career-best finish in just his third event after taking 12 weeks off because of a broken rib on his right side.

“Yeah, it was tough, couldn’t really get anything going and didn’t get off to the best start like I did the last three days, but kind of hung in there,” Pendrith, 31, said a bit dejectedly despite a personal best $635,600 consolation prize. “You know, middle of the round I hit some really nice iron shots and just couldn’t get anything to fall … just kind of lost my feel on the speed of my putts.”

Finau, who collected $1.512 million, pulled two clear of Pendrith at the turn, going out in two-under 34, capped by an 11-foot par save at the ninth that kept his bogey-free streak alive. When he rolled in a 21-footer on the 10th for birdie, his lead swelled to three shots, and although he bogeyed the 11th for his only blemish over 72 holes, Finau bounced back with a 31-footer that elicited a fist pump. Pendrith, meanwhile, bogeyed the same hole, and the outcome no longer was in doubt.

After opening with an eight-under 64 that featured hitting all 18 greens in regulation for the first time in his PGA Tour career, Finau would only say that he was playing with confidence, buoyed by his performance the week prior, but mentioned nothing about being in a zone or even playing relatively stress-free. “I hate saying stress-free in this game,” he said. “I hate saying easy.”

But the lithe 6ft 4ins veteran who generates power with ease made it look easy from start to finish. He hit 46 of 56 fairways, 66 greens in regulation (tied for third-most on tour since 1980) and sank 338 feet of putts. He led the field in strokes gained/tee to green and putts per green in regulation. It was a complete performance for a player who will move up to 13th in the world.

“Evolving,” he said, is an apt description of his game. After an experiment chasing distance that he didn’t need, he has concentrated on shoring up his short game and putting. He also has taken note of his thought process and how his body feels over shots in the heat of contention and tried to apply those lessons to succeeding opportunities.

Finau noted in his post-round press conference: “They say a winner is just a loser that just kept on trying, and that’s me to a tee.” Gregory Shamus

“Those are all things that I’ve known over these last couple years and I’ve worked extremely hard on, so now that I’m enjoying the success that I am, it’s all due in part to me just looking at myself square in the eyes and knowing I’m not as good as I can be and addressing those parts of my game that need to be elevated for me to be a great player,” he said. “I think that’s what you’re seeing these last couple weeks from me is that I’ve been able to put myself in similar situations in the past, but my game is sharper, I’m stronger and I’m just a better player to be able to seal the deal and take control of golf tournaments.”

Finau played 142 events before adding a second victory to his CV at last year’s Northern Trust and then needed only 23 more to collect his third. Now he is the first player to win back-to-back weeks during the regular season since Brendon Todd in 2019. There was a belief that Finau was simply too nice to win. He’s still one of the nicest on tour. He has just learned to apply his immense talents in a way that is emphatic and lacking empathy.

“You guys have been there for a lot of the tough losses. I put myself in situations to win before, haven’t been able to do it, but I’m very optimistic,” he said. “I’ve always been that way. I’ve always had hope and faith that things will turn out if I just keep working hard and putting myself there. But I’m proud of the way that I fought through adversity through my career. They say a winner is just a loser that just kept on trying, and that’s me to a ‘T.’ How many times do I lose? But one thing I won’t do is give up, and I’m only here as a winner because I chose not to give up and just keep going.”

Don’t be surprised if he just keeps on going.

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PGA Tour: Bombers duel in Detroit between Tony Finau and Taylor Pendrith at Rocket Mortgage Classic

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 08:01:04 +0000

By Dave Shedloski
Tony Finau is going for his second victory in as many weeks, and his primary opponent for Sunday’s final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic is a PGA Tour rookie with two career wins on PGA Tour Canada.

But give Taylor Pendrith credit, because when Finau looked to be taking control of the tournament on warm but calm Saturday, the native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, responded with birdies on four of his last five holes. The two men, who shared the first-round lead, are knotted again after 54 holes with personal-best aggregate totals of 21-under-par 195.

Finau, winner at last week’s 3M Open, has yet to make a bogey this week at Detroit Golf Club and fired a seven-under 65, while Pendrith, who leads the field with 25 birdies, managed a 66 thanks to the late spurt.

“It had a nice feel to it, a lot of energy from the crowd and both played some solid golf and kind of feeding off each other,” said Finau, 32, who hails from Utah and was decidedly the fan favourite in his pairing with the Canadian golfer. “I think we both have done a great job up to this point through 54 holes of maintaining our composure and playing good golf. It was nice to have him as a playing partner today and we’ll have him again tomorrow.”

“It was cool,” Pendrith, 31, said of the atmosphere in the final pairing. “Obviously, he made a ton of birdies, and I finished the round with a lot of birdies, so it was fun. We were going back and forth. Tony bombs it off the tee and I hit it far as well, so it was fun, kind of similar games I guess, and we attacked it very well.

“It’s going to take another low one tomorrow, so just keep the pedal down and try and make as many birdies as possible.”

Cameron Young, seemingly a perennial contender in his rookie season and owner of four runner-up finishes, is third alone at 17-under 199 after a 65. Stephan Jaeger is next at 200 and then Patrick Cantlay, World No. 4, is another stroke back in fifth place.

“I would love to be closer,” said Young, who tied the course record on Friday with a 63 and is 16-under in his last two rounds. “I think I had a chance to shoot nine or 10 today, but yeah, I’m happy that I’ve kept it somewhat close. And I know those guys are playing some great golf in that group behind me today, so we’ll be chasing all day tomorrow.”

Nate Lashley set the tournament’s 72-hole record in the inaugural edition in 2019 at 25-under, but that mark appears in serious jeopardy against the long-hitting duo. Finau, however, wasn’t about to count out some of the other pursuers. Conditions on Saturday were ideal, warm and with little wind, enabling the field to register a collective 69.70 scoring average. Sunday’s forecast calls for more of the same.

“I can’t say we pulled away from the guys. This is the type of golf course where someone can shoot eight, nine, 10-under,” Finau noted. “But if we put together a good round tomorrow, might be a two-man race and I’m looking forward to the challenge again.”

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Pendrith pulls away, pre-round driver switch works wonders and bad weather looms in Bermuda

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 03:10:37 +0000

Cliff Hawkins

By Christopher Powers
With some wacky weather forecasted, plus the fact that a pair of short hitters had won in each of the last two years, the advantage for the bomb-and-gouger was supposed to be reduced at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Naturally, one of if not the longest players in the field, Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, is the solo leader after 54 holes.

Pendrith has reached 17-under doing exactly what wasn’t supposed to work this week—hitting it as far as possible, wedging it on and making some putts. Turns out, that strategy might work anywhere, as the 30-year-old backed up his second-round 61 with a Saturday 65, a score that appeared out of the question when he began the day one over through six holes. A birdie at the par-5 seventh proved to be the jolt of energy his round needed, with Pendrith going on to make six more to grab a three-shot lead over Danny Lee heading into Sunday.

“It was a tough mental day to kind of stick with it and just kind of know that I should make some birdies at some point,” Pendrith said.

The birdies most certainly came, none bigger than the one at the beastly 235-yard par-3 16th, which featured a treacherous back left pin on Saturday. No matter for Pendrith, who safely played to the front right portion of the green and made a mile-long putt (no Shot Tracker this week, so we’re estimating) that could prove to be massive come Sunday evening.

“Yeah, that was a bonus. I was just trying to put good speed on it, and it was perfect speed. Just kind of fell right at the end, and it was great to see that go in.”

Pendrith will now enter some unfamiliar territory, having never finished higher than T-11 in just 12 career PGA Tour starts. He’s no stranger to winning as a pro, though, with a pair of victories on the PGA Tour Canada in 2019. Fortunately, outside of Lee, a number of the guys chasing Pendrith are entering unfamiliar territory, too.

“There will be some nerves for everybody in the top-10, I think, going into tomorrow,” he said. “Just going to try to focus on what I can control and just go play golf and try to battle the wind.”

Pre-round driver switch works wonders for Herbert

Cliff Hawkins

Relatable: Lucas Herbert noticed something was off with his driver on the range prior to Saturday’s round, which caused him to feel a little uneasy. Who among us hasn’t hit a few squirrely ones on the range and thought “it must be the driver, right?”

Not relatable: It actually was the driver, so Herbert replaced the clubhead with one of the extras in his locker, went out and shot a six-under 65 to get into contention. Tour pros, they’re absolutely nothing like us!

“We were hitting a few on the range, sort of hit probably … I hit pretty much most of the drives I wanted to hit, I was just kind of hitting a couple low ones,” Herbert said. “Obviously sort of get ready for playing on a windy day. Hit one that felt weird, and I hit another one that felt weird. I looked at the driver and it sort of looked a bit suspicious. Yeah, with sort of probably 12 minutes until we teed off, it was back to the locker, get a new driver head. Luckily, we had spares. Had to run with that on the fly, but it turned out all right.”

Sure did. Herbert, who just picked up his second European Tour win at the Irish Open in July, is four back of Pendrith’s lead, all this after telling himself “we’re in for a long week” after just three holes on Thursday morning. The 25-year-old Aussie was two over at the time, and the rain was coming down sideways. “I’ll be heading back to the mainland on Friday,” Herbert said he thought to himself.

Things have since escalated quickly, as Herbert is now in legitimate striking distance of a PGA Tour win. He wouldn’t mind a little more of that weather to roll in on Sunday, which could bring everybody back into the mix.

“The harder it is, the better, I think. I’ve always enjoyed a good test of golf and I think, yeah, the conditions make it tough tomorrow, could make it a bit of fun.”

Weather is LOOMING on Sunday

It looks like Herbert will definitely get his wish, though the question now is whether or not lightning will be a factor, thus halting play. As of now, there is an 80-percent chance of rain and thunderstorms are expected, which is why the PGA Tour has moved up tee times and is sending players off two tees on Sunday. (The final threesome goes off at 8:57 a.m. EDT and Golf Channel will broadcast the final round live from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.)

Should the lightning and thunder hold off, though, players will not only have to play through the rain but the wind, too, with 15- to 25-mph winds expected. Simply put, weather will be a factor in the final round. The hope is that it doesn’t push play to Monday, which no one wants.

Danny Lee expected to be here

Cliff Hawkins

An injury and some poor form have seen Danny Lee fade into the background a bit on the PGA Tour, which makes his strong week so far feel a bit out of nowhere. At 14 under, Lee is in solo second, in prime position to claim his second tour title, the last coming at the 2015 Greenbrier.

Lee doesn’t see his place on the leader board as unusual, at least judging off the way he answered a question about having “low expectations” coming into the Bermuda Championship.

“I worked my ass off last month,” Lee said. “Getting on the plane all the way to [come] over here, I was kind of expecting to do something great, and I need to. So I didn’t come here just to play golf. I came over here to play some good, really good golf.

“I’m doing it right now, so it’s good to see that happening right now. I just need one more day like this.”

One more good day would prove incredibly clutch for Lee, who has just three starts left on a minor medical extension. Safe to say the only expectations he could afford to have would be high ones.

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