Taylor Pendrith in hunt at PGA Championship after painful 'up-and-down journey'
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The distance looks effortless, powered by the large, but not overly muscular frame, of a man seemingly built to propel golf balls great distances.
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Over 36 holes at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, Pendrith routinely was outdriving his playing partners Matthieu Pavon and Tom Hoge by 10 or 20 yards.
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'It's the second major of the year and I'm playing good golf,' he told Postmedia after his round on Friday. 'Anytime you're in the top 20 of a major going into the weekend is a really good place to be.'
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On Friday, Pendrith followed up Thursday's 69 with a 70 to head to the weekend firmly in the mix at the season's second major at three-under par. He is near the top of the field in strokes-gained off the tee this week, including one drive that travelled 359 yards.
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'Driver feels really good and I've been putting it in play nicely, and you've got to hit fairways around here to score,' he said. 'It's been pretty clean, I really haven't made a ton of mistakes. I feel like I've hit a lot of greens and my speed has been good. I haven't really had to grind for too many pars.'
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It has been a frustrating couple of months for the Richmond Hill, Ont., native. After top-ten PGA Tour finishes at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach in February, Pendrith has missed four cuts and finished inside the top 35 just one time.
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'Honestly, I felt like I've had some really nice days over the past month where I've hit it really good and been driving it really good all year,' he said. 'I just kind of just haven't had the results and it's been more of a mental frustration having to stay patient and trust what I'm doing.'
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Swing coach Derek Ingram said much the same thing, catching up with Postmedia while keeping tabs on his player during Thursday's opening round. Ingram said that Pendrith's game largely has been good, but sometimes knowing your form is solid can cause a player to push harder than they should in a sport that rewards patience.
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The Winnipeg-based coach pointed to last week's Truist Championship, where Pendrith opened with 66-70 before falling nearly all the way to the bottom of the leaderboard over the weekend.
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'Obviously, last week I got off to a good start and had a sloppy finish, and it was really frustrating,' Pendrith said. 'It feels good to play two solid rounds here and keep my head down and keep it going.'
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