How tough was Pinehurst No. 2? The Canadian contingent at the U.S. Open weighs in – SCOREGolf

CROMWELL, Conn. — Once Taylor Pendrith stepped foot on the grounds of the famed No. 2 course at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club for last week’s 2024 U.S. Open, he quickly realized the strenuous test he was soon to face.

Having never played the course before, the 33-year-old Richmond Hill, Ont., native arrived in North Carolina last Monday and instantly soaked in the history and layout of the course.

“The greens are pretty treacherous,” he said. “I did a lot of prep work Monday to Wednesday to try to figure out where to miss shots and how to get back into position if needed. I think we did a really good job of that, but it got really hard on the weekend.”

In his fourth appearance in a U.S. Open, Pendrith tied for 16th, marking a personal best in golf’s third major of the year.

“It was such a grind mentally,” he said. “I stayed really patient. I kind of knew that if you make a bogey, it’s not the end of the world. Pars go a long way in U.S. Opens, so I feel like just learning if you be smart, it can go a long way in U.S. Opens.”

Among the seven Canadians in the field, Corey Conners led the way, shooting even par and finishing tied for ninth, while Adam Svensson, the third Canadian to make the cut, totalled 12 over and finished T56.

“It was a really cool, hard test,” Conners said. “It’s a really cool area. There’s so much golf and so much history around there. It’s really cool to play at a place like that.”

Only 11 players finished at even par or better, with eight finishing in red figures.

Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes and amateur Ashton McCulloch all missed the cut and were unable to make it to the weekend.

“It was tough,” Taylor said. “It was fair. You had to be super precise coming to the greens, so that was kind of what you expect from a U.S. Open. It was very difficult. If you were on and put it in the right spots, you had chances. If not, you were getting penalized.”

Despite missing the cut after making his previous four U.S. Open cuts, Hadwin placed Pinehurst among the top five U.S. Opens he has played in.

“I thought the USGA did a great job of making them fair and playable,” Hadwin said. “There were still a couple spots where good shots weren’t necessarily getting rewarded, but I think for the most part on that golf course they did. It provided for a good championship test.”

Prior to last week, Pinehurst last hosted a U.S. Open in 2014. Shortly after Martin Kaymer hoisted the trophy, the course began an immense renovation, converting the Bentgrass greens to Bermuda.

“The change probably made it more difficult, I would think,” Svensson said. “I felt like, putting around the greens, you couldn’t really putt. You could, but you would have to hit it so hard, and it was hard to judge.”

With the U.S. Open in the rear-view mirror, the focus now shifts to this week’s Travelers Championship, the final signature event of the PGA Tour season.

Unlike Pinehurst, TPC River Highlands, which sits at just 6,835 yards, will provide players a much more forgiving course. In 2023, Keagan Bradley shot a tournament-record 23-under 257 to win and take home his sixth trophy of his PGA Tour career.

Conners, a two-time tour winner, led the Canadian contingent with a top-10 finish last year, while Pendrith and Svensson were unable to make it to the weekend.

“I just need to put the ball in play and make some putts this year,” said Pendrith, a first-time tour winner in May at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. “There’s a lot of wedges out here, so it’s not going to just be a putting content, but making a lot of putts will help.”