Canadian Taylor Pendrith leads Byron Nelson after back-to-back eagles
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Canadian Taylor Pendrith made a charge up the leaderboard on Saturday at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Pendrith made back-to-back eagles on Nos. 5 and 6 in the third round to move into contention at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas after shooting 30 on the front nine.
Pendrith finished with an 8-under 63 to grab the lead at 19 under for the tournament. He is one stroke ahead of American Jake Knapp, who was a PGA Tour Canada member for five years and won three tournaments on that circuit.
The 32-year-old Pendrith is just the third player this season to shoot back-to-back eagles, joining fellow Canadian Adam Svensson and Ryan Fox to achieve the feat.
The Richmond Hill, Ont., native shot a 67 Friday to remain the leading Canadian at 11-under going into the third round. After shooting a 64 Friday, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., struggled Saturday with a 1-over 72 to sit tied for 58th.
Pendrith has been battling tendinitis in his left shoulder for over a year and has led to three different non-surgical procedures to address the issue. Pendrith said his shoulder has been improving and is hoping to avoid major surgery because of the long recovery time.
“Been tough mentally for sure,” Pendrith told PGATour.com Thursday. “I would say my game is built around driving the golf ball and I’ve lost a lot of speed in the last year. Now I’m getting it back, so I can I guess fully commit to my driver swing and hit it hard again; whereas before I would flinch or ease off. Mentally it’s been difficult. Getting back to kind of how I like to play golf I guess and can swing hard on the shots, so that’s a good feeling.”
Pendrith is looking for his first win on the PGA Tour. He has two top-10 finishes in 2024.
The Canadian is 91st on the FedEx Cup rankings and 107th on the World Golf Rankings.