Canada’s Taylor Pendrith ‘enjoying the ride’ after career year on PGA Tour

It’s easy for Taylor Pendrith to find happiness.

The Canadian — a winner, finally, on the PGA Tour — enjoys normal-life stuff the most. Being on the road upwards of 35 weeks in a year means simple pleasures bring the most joy. A glass of wine with his wife Meg, playing toy cars with his son Hayes who just turned two, cooking in the backyard and a wardrobe at home that includes the same rotation of about 10 golf t-shirts. There was a new one added to the collection this fall after the Presidents Cup, and one to come, for sure, at the Masters next spring.

But while the joy in Pendrith’s life stems from the same kind of stuff it always has, this particular life worth celebrating — certainly this holiday season — stems from being able to look back on the best year in golf he’s ever had.

“I’ve got a beautiful family and I get to play professional golf for a living — it’s pretty awesome,” Pendrith told Sportsnet. “I’m just enjoying the ride, man.”

The Richmond Hill, Ont. native was Canada’s top performer on the PGA Tour through 2024, finally breaking through for his first PGA Tour title at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May. He birdied the 72nd hole and after Ben Kohles flubbed a chip around the 18th green — and missed the ensuing five-foot par attempt that would have pushed the event into a playoff — Pendrith was the winner. Meg and Hayes rushed the green. A “what’s up, buddy!” followed by a huge hug to his son was the iconic moment that choked up anyone watching.

Pendrith parlayed that victory into some more big-stage success through the summer, including a top-10 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship (a Signature Event on the PGA Tour played at Quail Hollow, which will host next year’s PGA Championship) the week after his win, and back-to-back top-fives at the Barracuda Championship and 3M Open.

He was the only Canadian to make it to the season-ending Tour Championship — where he finished tied for 14th — and, for good measure, he added an eighth-place finish at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas this fall after opening with a 10-under 61, matching his career low on the PGA Tour.

Pendrith made it to a career-high No. 44 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“He was the best Canadian on the PGA Tour this year — the numbers don’t lie,” Pendrith’s long-time coach Derek Ingram recently said in an interview with the PGA Tour.  “He did a combination of things (right) and you combine that with a great attitude, things coming together, and playing good and free and getting some rest and you’ve got a season like that.”

It wasn’t necessarily supposed to be this kind of year, however, given how it started for Pendrith — physically and mentally.

At the beginning of 2024, Pendrith, who has had to navigate a myriad of injuries in his career, was struggling with shoulder problems and missed five of his first seven cuts. The two cuts he did make, however, he finished in the top 10. Good golf was bubbling under the surface.

In March, change was afoot. He began to, once again, work with Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood, a sports psychologist who Pendrith knew from his time with Golf Canada’s national team. Toogood is still part of Team Canada’s staff and was a big part — if not, the biggest part — of Pendrith’s performance through the rest of 2024. The foursome of Meg Pendrith, Mitch Theoret (his caddie), Ingram, and Toogood were able to help him in a renewed way.  

“She was a positive influence on everything,” Meg said of Toogood. “When you talk to somebody else, it makes him accountable. They had things they were working on and specific goals for (a week) and his job was to, if nothing else, stay committed to that goal. And he had to be accountable for what they were working on.

“I’m just really proud of his ability to stay patient and work hard. I’ve always known that if his game was on and he was in a good state of mind he would be capable of what he’s shown he’s capable of doing.”

As the season chugged along, it appeared to be a foregone conclusion that Pendrith would be named to Mike Weir’s Presidents Cup team to represent the International side at Royal Montreal.

Pendrith was called on as a captain’s pick two years prior in Charlotte, but it was a bit of a surprise for the Canadian, who had spent nearly five months on the shelf with an injury. Some of the guys on that team, Pendrith said, he hadn’t even met before the event began. This time around, Pendrith’s summertime stretch was the envy of plenty other potential picks on Weir’s radar and when he was the lone Canadian to find his way to East Lake for the season finale, he was as automatic a selection as any other.

After the pick was confirmed, Pendrith continued his fine play back at home — recording an ace at TPC Toronto’s North Course in a charity event on No. 14, which is set to be ‘The Rink’ hole for the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, and also setting a course record at another GTA course.

Pendrith got to play under Weir alongside fellow Ontario-born PGA Tour winners Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners. The trio was special. They grew up together, went to Kent State University together, were part of Team Canada together, were in each other’s wedding parties, are still best friends and got to play for their childhood hero at the Presidents Cup in their home country.

Pendrith earned two points at Royal Montreal as the International side was defeated by the mighty Americans 18.5-11.5. After going 0-4 at the previous Presidents Cup, Pendrith knew he had something to prove this time around. He was paired early with golf legend Adam Scott to do exactly that. The duo played together at the International Team’s pre-event scouting trip to Royal Montreal and they were “grooving” pretty good, Pendrith said. When the pair won their match Friday 5-and-4 over Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa, it meant Scott had earned the most points of anyone on the International side in Presidents Cup history. It was also Pendrith’s first point ever.

“We had good vibes all week when everyone was hanging out and obviously it being in Canada was a real treat. It was a very special week. It’s not the result anyone would have wanted, but we put up a fight and Friday was probably the most memorable day of golf I’ll ever have in my career,” said Pendrith, who then let out a small as-if-that-actually-happened laugh.

“It was (expletive) unreal.”

With a win now under his belt, a clean bill of health, and plenty to look forward to (“I catch myself from time-to-time thinking about it, like, ‘oh yeah, I am playing in the Masters next year”) Pendrith’s 2024 was, as he looks back, the natural next step in his golfing life.

He won twice on PGA Tour Americas (formerly the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada), the year that he earned his promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour, and then finished runner-up four times on the Korn Ferry Tour en route to earning a PGA Tour card. He hasn’t looked back since, continuing to climb the proverbial ladder until he found his way into the winner’s circle this summer.

The Canadian accepts that he can’t win every week, but with one trophy to his name (funny enough: he didn’t even win an actual trophy, it was a plaque. And, along with the Texas title he got a custom set of cowboy boots, which Canadian golf fans in the know can laugh about since Corey Conners’ two wins were also in Texas and he got a cowboy hat) he’s finally proven to himself that yes, he can do this.

“Just getting into contention as much as possible and learning to play under pressure and with the nerves — the more times you can be there, the more success you’ll have,” Pendrith said.

“I’ve worked my ass off to get to where I am today and I’m just trying to enjoy it.”