Taylor Pendrith becomes the first Canadian to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
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Taylor Pendrith had plenty of opportunities to take control of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. He failed to capitalize on his length on TPC Craig Ranch’s drivable par-4 14th and missed a mid-range birdie putt on the difficult par-3 15th.
He held the lead from the jump on Sunday, but it was just one shot before Ben Kohles birdied 16 and 17 to pass him heading to the par-5 18th.
Pendrith himself needed to hole a seven-footer for par on the 17th after Kohles drained a 20-footer before him. It looped around the hole before falling in the cup.
The 32-year-old then put his ball on the par-5 18th in two and watched as Kohles chunked a pitch from short of the green and then missed his par putt to drop back to 22 under.
All Pendrith had to do was make his three-footer for birdie, which he did to win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson by one.
It’s Pendrith’s first PGA Tour win coming in his third season since earning his card on the Korn Ferry Tour. His last professional win came five years ago on the PGA Tour Canada.
Pendrith played in his 2022 rookie season, holding the outright 54-hole lead at the Bermuda Championship and later a share of the 54-hole lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, both times leading to top-5s. His nine top-25s propelled him to a BMW Championship appearance to end his season and then a selection to the International Presidents Cup team.
But Pendrith performed poorly at Quail Hollow, losing all four of his matches as the U.S. again took the Presidents Cup. While he posted four top-10s the next season in 2023, he also missed 12 cuts, more than double his total from his rookie year.
His 2024 season was similarly a case of Jekyll and Hyde as he had missed more cuts than he had made coming into this week at TPC Craig Ranch. But, in his five missed cuts, he’d only finished outside the top 11 once.
He got off to a fast start this week outside of Dallas, starting the weekend in a tie for fifth before making back-to-back eagles on the front nine of what ended up being a third-round 63 to grab the lead by one.
On Sunday, he started the day by stuffing his approach at the 1st, leading to a birdie and then holed a bunker shot on No. 6 to stay one ahead of Kohles.
Kohles, the reining Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year, briefly grabbed the lead on his own on No. 8 before Pendrith grabbed a share once again on the 9th and didn’t give it up until Kohles’ back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17.
Pendrith spun his approach off the front of the 17th green, settling just in the edge of the rough, near the front bunker, impacting his stance. Preferred lies were in effect for the fourth straight day due to heavy rains overnight, but PGA Tour official Ken Tackett ruled none of Pendrith’s ball was touching the fairway, denying him relief. He managed to scoot his ball on the green and watched the putt circle the hole completely before it dropped.
On 18, the Canadian’s second with an iron found the green 40 feet away after Kohles’ hybrid came up short in the rough. Facing a similarly difficult stance to what Pendrith had on the previous hole, Kohles chunked his third and then missed the par attempt from five feet to give Pendrith the win.
Pendrith is the sixth different Canadian to win on the PGA Tour the past two seasons and one of his fellow Cannuck winners, Mackenzie Hughes, was one of the first players to greet him on 18 green.
