Pendrith vies for first PGA Tour victory at Rocket Mortgage Classic

TSN Senior Reporter

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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