Of course, the joint lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic matters to Taylor Pendrith, but above it is the appreciation of being pain free and competing on the PGA Tour. Excerpts:
Taylor, 8-under 64, can we get some general comments on your round and then open it up to questions?
Taylor Pendrith: Yeah, putted the ball very well today, drove it good. When I did miss
a fairway, I was in the right spots and all the pins happened to be in the back so I was able
to kind of chase something up the green and I made a couple birdies that way. Played the
par 5s well and honestly the whole day was very clean. One bogey on 18, but did a lot of
good things right. Was never really out of position.
Related: Si Woo Kim starts Rocket Mortgage Classic with a dash of inspiration
You mentioned having a lot of family and friends here. How far of a drive is that
from Ontario?
Taylor: Me and my wife drove here on Monday, it was like three-and-half hours. Pretty close. It feels like a home game.
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What do you hope you learn from having the lead after the second and third round earlier this season?
Taylor: Yeah, I mean, I think every time you can put yourself into contention is obviously a new experience for me. I learned a lot that day. It was obviously brutal conditions, but basically can’t lay off, you’ve got to always keep trying to make birdies, especially out here. Looks like the scores are pretty low, so should be a bit of a birdie-fest until unless the weather changes. But the golf course is playing great and there’s tons of opportunities, so just keep the pedal down.
Do you at all think of what a win would do for you in terms of putting you back on
the Tour for sure next year? Do you block that out or is it impossible to?
Taylor: I think everybody kind of — it’s there, you think about it. But honestly, for me it’s just really nice to be back playing healthy. It’s been a long time off and I’m just happy to be playing golf again pain free. Obviously the 8 under is a great start, but there’s so much golf left and, like I said, I’m just happy to be back playing and everything’s a bonus.
What can you share about your journey to be your age and be a PGA Tour rookie?
Are there times where you thought about doing something else?
Taylor: Kind of, but not really. It has been a long journey. I’ve been up and down from Mackenzie Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour, Korn Ferry Tour and now here finally with some injuries in between. I think it shows all the hard work’s paid off and when I’m healthy, I can compete with the best. It’s been — other than the injury, it’s been a
great rookie year so far and just nice to be back.
How much of a difference does it make when all three guys are rolling pretty good
out there?
Taylor: Yeah, it’s great. All three of us played really well today and we all got off to really good starts. Lee was, I think he made eagle on, I don’t know what hole it was, 14, yeah. I made a nice par save from hitting in the water on the second shot. We all kind of fed off each other and the putts were rolling in, so it was fun. I think Kiradech shot five or six
maybe, so it was a good group.
