Twenty years ago in an interview for this publication, Kawartha G&CC Superintendent Jennifer Pendrith steered away from her own story to tell us about her younger brother. She said the pre-teen was athletically gifted and mostly a baseball player but she felt his golf ability would be off the charts if he played more.
She was right. Oh, was she.
Not only did he become a decorated amateur, a member of Team Canada, and a winner on the PGA TOUR Canada, on Sunday he became the latest Canadian to take down a title on the PGA TOUR.
Taylor Pendrith, now 32 years-old, capped the 2024 edition of THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson with a birdie to slip past a faltering Ben Kohles and become a 1st time PGA TOUR winner.
The Richmond Hill, Ontario-raised golfer who now resides in South Florida was in the mix all week on the fringes of Dallas in in McKinney, Texas. He started with a 64 at the TPC Craig Ranch and piled on a 67, 63, and a closing 67 for a -23 total.
The win is worth $1.71 million to Pendrith’s bottom line but also earned him valuable points in a quest to be part of the International Team at this Fall’s Presidents Cup in Montreal.
He is projected to move up 57 spots to #34 in the season-long Fed-Ex Cup standings.
He shared his immediate thoughts on winning with the tournament broadcast:
After the trophy was presented, Taylor had a chance to gather his thoughts as he met with the media.
“It’s been something that I’ve been working towards my whole career and to finally get it done feels unbelievable,” he commented on first PGA TOUR win.
With the lead going into Sunday, and a t-2 as his best finish to date, Pendrith had a little different mind-set this time around as he pursued a win.
He shared what he learned from previous times owning the lead after 54 holes.
“I think I learned that I need to stay aggressive, play my own game, not worry about what others are doing and go out there and win it and not let it I guess be brought to you.
So that’s what I was trying to do today, stay aggressive. I hit driver on the first hole, which was maybe borderline. If I hit it a little right would be in the hazard. Hit a nice wedge shot and made birdie on the first. Got off to a good start and calmed the nerves a little bit.
Yeah, felt like I was driving it good and there was no reason for me not to hit driver on most holes and stay aggressive, because obviously needed to shoot low today to get it done and somebody from the back could have shot 7-, 8-, 9-under to contend.
So, yeah, that’s what I learned. Just go out there and play aggressive and go and get it.”
And get it he did.
Pendrith is the first Canadian to win at the Byron Nelson; the previous best finish was a runner-up by Mike Weir in 2014.
He joins Nick Taylor (Waste Management Phoenix Open) as the second winner on the PGA TOUR this season. He also becomes one of five Canadians to win on the PGA TOUR in the last two seasons, joining Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners, and Adam Svensson.
With the win, Pendrith is now fully exempt through the 2026 season; also earns a spot in the PGA Championship and the remaining Signature Events this year, including next week’s Wells Fargo Championship; also earns spots in the field at The Sentry, THE PLAYERS Championship and the ‘25 Masters.
