Canadian Taylor Pendrith Wants to Return to Presidents Cup – Golf

Photo: The Canadian Press

Mike Weir hosted a dinner for about 20 prospective international team players in early May to try and build a sense of camaraderie in the months leading up to the Presidents Cup.

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member told the assembled players that it would be great if one of them could win the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and gain momentum towards developing an international team.

Let’s cast our minds back to that weekend, when Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ontario, was picking up his first PGA Tour victory.

“Mike had been texting me all week, and on Saturday night before the final round he texted me and had a lot of encouraging things to say,” Pendrith said Wednesday. “He said, ‘You don’t have to be anyone else. Just go out there, play your game and take care of business.’”

Since that victory, Pendrith has been busy on the PGA Tour, earning a spot on the international team for the second consecutive year.

He, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes were named to the Presidents Cup on Tuesday, the first time three Canadians have played in the event. The timing is good for them because the prestigious best-on-best tournament will be held in Canada for the first time since 2007, when Royal Montreal Golf Club hosted the event from Sept. 24-27.

“Mike gave me a little motivation at that dinner to get on the team, maybe pumped me up a little bit and I was able to win this week,” Pendrith said of Weir’s influence. “But he’s been great. He’s there if you ever have any questions and he’s been great for the Canadians.

“Of course he’s a legend in Canada and he wants us to succeed and follow in his footsteps. All three of us are super pumped and want to make him proud.”

Having dinner together is actually part of the international team’s strategy.

South Africa’s Trevor Immelman introduced the team-building exercise when he captained the team in 2022 to try to overcome the cultural differences inherent in a team that can feature players from all over the world — except Europe and the United States.

Weir said he felt the tactics were working and that Pendrith’s victory following his speech in Dallas was, in some ways, a turning point for the International Team.

“There’s a feeling in our team that everybody really likes each other. We know each other more,” Weir said after the six captains were announced Monday. “Hopefully that leads to good play. When you’re a little looser and you know each other, you tend to play a little looser.

“I hope this leads to the guys really playing freely and well.”

Pendrith, Conners and Hughes have played together as a team before in various combinations. All three played together at Kent State University, Conners and Hughes represented Canada at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and Pendrith and Conners played in the Internationals at the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

“It’ll be nice to see some very familiar faces in the team room, and we’re all good mates and we want each other to do really well,” Pendrith said. “If we play together, great. If not, we’ll do what’s best for the team.

“I think with those guys there and with Weirsy as captain, it’s going to be a really good week and I’m super excited to get started.”

Pendrith said he learned a lot at Charlotte, where he lost to the United States 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 in the Internationals. Perhaps the most important lesson for him was how important it is to win the first hole on the first day.

“We have guys on the team who are stats and data guys and they have so much information it’s overwhelming, but they’re so intelligent,” he said. “I feel like we all believe in it, we really trust them, and I think getting off to a good start is huge.

“I don’t know the exact number, but if you win the first hole, you have X percent chance of winning the match. So that’s what we’re really focused on, getting off to a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 4, 2024.