With birdies on four of his last five holes, Taylor Pendrith has put himself 18 holes away from his first PGA Tour victory. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native heads to Sunday tied with Tony Finau at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. If it’s anything like Saturday, the final round should be a birdie-fest.
“Obviously this course has shown some low scores, so you’ve got to just keep making birdies if you want to stay in it,” said Pendrith.
No one in the field has made more birdies this week than the Canadian, who has 25 through three rounds including eight on Saturday as he and Finau battled back and forth all day.
After making a bogey on the par-4 13th hole when his tee shot sailed left and ended up behind a tree, Pendrith rallied, adding birdies on the next three holes – a par-5, a par-3 and a par-4. He made one more on the final hole, knocking in a 10-footer to go to 21-under par.
“Thirteen, just kind of hit a poor tee ball and maybe got a little bit of a bad break right behind the tree,” explained Pendrith. “To get three in a row after that was a big momentum boost and obviously set myself up nicely for tomorrow with those three holes, and to get one on the last was great.”
Finau, who won the 3M Championship last week, tried to keep pace with the Canadian, making seven birdies as the two long-hitters went back and forth all day.
“Obviously he made a ton of birdies and I finished the round with a lot of birdies, so it was fun,” said Pendrith. “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.”
For his day, Pendrith missed just three fairways and only two greens. He’s been getting performance right through the bag sitting fourth in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, second in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and third in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Pendrith’s career has been one of resilience. He attended Kent State University where he roomed with Corey Conners for four years. Both appeared headed for big things after graduation but while Conners followed a steady path to the PGA Tour and a lofty spot on the Official World Golf Ranking, Pendrith battled injuries and spent time going between PGA Tour Canada and the Korn Ferry Tour. After two years spent on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 and 2021 when COVID stopped any promotion from the junior tour, he finally graduated to the PGA Tour this season.
But the hard luck continued to plague his career. After a good start that included a shot at a first win at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in October when he held the 54-hole lead, Pendrith broke a rib during the Players Championship, putting him on the shelf for three and a half months. Now, in his comeback, he has put himself in position to solidify his talent with a victory.
“I probably have more pressure just because I’ve never won before and Tony’s a multiple winner and he won last week and he’s playing great,” Pendrith said. “I’ve got a nice opportunity tomorrow being tied with him going into Sunday, so there’s 18 holes of golf left and who knows what will happen. I feel like my game’s in a good spot, I’m driving it well, I’m hitting my wedges good, it’s nice to see some putts go in. We’ll see. It will be a fun experience and just looking forward to competing and see what happens.”
Despite the two being four shots ahead of the rest of the field, Finau warned that with the golf club giving up low rounds, it might be easy for the two front-runners to get lapped by a player back in the field.
“Taylor’s playing some great golf,” he stated. “I can’t say pulled away from the guys, this is the type of golf course where someone can shoot eight, nine, 10 under, but if we put together a good round tomorrow, might be a two-man race and I’m looking forward to the challenge again.”
A win would give Pendrith a bundle or rewards including a $1.5 million cheque. He would earn a two-year exemption on Tour as well as an exemption into the Masters, and the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He’d also become just the 16th Canadian to win on the PGA Tour and the first since Nick Taylor’s victory at Pebble Beach in 2020.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
