Sports

Pendrith vies for first PGA Tour victory at Rocket Mortgage Classic – TSN

Published

2 years ago

July 30, 2022

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.

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Sports

Red Wings sign Raymond to 8-year, $64.6 million contract

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.

Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.

The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.

Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.

Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.

—

AP NHL:

Source link

Sports

Cousins caps winning drive with TD pass to London as Falcons rally past Eagles 22-21

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.

The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.

Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.

Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.

The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.

And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.

Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.

Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.

Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.

Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.

Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.

With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.

Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.

Questionable call

Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.

Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.

Running wild

Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.

Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.

Foles honored

Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”

Injuries

The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).

Up next

Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.

The Eagles play at New Orleans on Sunday.

___

AP NFL:

Source link

Sports

Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

22 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

Source link