Valiant week for Taylor Pendrith ends T5 in Stormy Bermuda.. final results and earnings

 PGA Tour: Butterfield Bermuda Championship final scoreboard here 

After battling through the worst weather early on Thursday with a very credible -1 70, then setting a course record -10 61 on Friday to take a 1 shot lead, Taylor Pendrith shoots -6 65 on Saturday to lead by 3 shots vying for his first PGA Tour win...

Mother Nature was calling as I told you yesterday and she came full force on Sunday... wind and rain but thankfully very little lightning..

So play resumed in the midst of a "hooley"

Taylor Pendrith 

Birdies were at a premium, in fact Taylor lost his 3 shot lead with bogey's at 6,7 and 8 before play was halted. He made battling pars and came to the 17th just a shot off the lead of Aussie Lucas Hebert. He had made 2 eagles and a birdie previously, all set up by great drives.

This time he pulled his drive left into the water. " I hit a couple of left balls today with my driver, but at that point I was one back and would have been looking at a 5 iron in and possibly a birdie. Yeah it was my worst swing of the day, the week possibly the year, but I wouldn't change it"

His double bogey 7 capped a +5 76 and T5 at -12. Lot's of positives he would say later, this was my best finish out here, it was a tough Sunday which I will learn from, but to have a good week was great. I hadn't played much in the last 2 weeks, and didn't see the golf course at all until Thursday due to weather, So I'm pretty pleased overall.

Veteran Canadian Dick Zokol pro agrees that Taylor will be stronger for this " He has such a good head on his shoulders, and basically his championship came down to that 71st hole, and while his decision to take driver back fired on this occasion he will remember it the next time he is in that situation and act accordingly. Mark my words,he will win lots of tournaments. His progression in the last 3 years is one any pro would die for. 2 wins on the MacKenzie tour in 2019, then T2 on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 the top 5 in 2021 is remarkable, and it will continue."

The result worth $251.063 is a lovely wedding present. Hebert shot a -2 69 -15 for his 1st PGA Tour win and $1,170,00 while Patrick Reed and Danny Lee T2 -14 worth $578,500 each.

Adam Svensson ended up T22 after a closing 73.

Next week Pendrith and his new bride Megan are in Mexico for the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba which Viktor Hovland of Norway won last time at -20 and Corey Connors was the only Canadian to make the cut T17 -13.

Bryan Angus

"Keep doing what you're doing" Taylor Pendrith who takes a 3 shot lead into Sunday in stormy Bermuda... full scoreboard

PGA Tour: Butterfield Bermuda Championship scoreboard  here

Following a career best 61 is always a tough act to follow, especially mentally when your mind says "hey you birdied all these holes yesterday".

Taylor Pendrith 

After what may have been his best round yet on Thursday morning -1 70 in gale force winds, Taylor Pendrith got it all together for his -10 course record 61 on Friday.

So 72 or there about today would be the norm. It seemed likely after a bogey at 5 had him +1, three straight birdies at 7,8 9 had him out in -2 34 and back on top...home in 31 with birdies at 10, 13 16,17 and a great follow up 65 has him at -17 and a 3 shot lead heading into a stormy Sunday with tee times moved up off split tees.

Taylor with 2 wins on the MacKenzie Tour can secure his next 2 years if he keeps "doing what he's doing" on Sunday...Accurate drives on this PGA Tour shortest course, and a hot putter will be a wonderful honeymoon treat for his new bride Megan, who is with him.

Remember the 2019 Valero Texas Open which Corey Connors won after marrying wife Malory before heading off to the Masters... Now it's Taylor Pendrith and his new wife who will have two years of security if Taylor can just keep "doin what he\s doin" on what is forecast to be a bad weather Sunday with tee times moved up.

Bryan Angus

Sensational Canadian Taylor Pendrith leads Butterfield Bermuda Championship with career best -10 61

PGA Tour : Butterfield Bermuda Championship leaderboard  here 

Richmond Hill's Taylor Pendrith had the round of his life a -10 61 break the course record and grab the halfway lead at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.

He is a shot ahead of American, Patrick Rodgers.

He played his front nine in -4 before making 6 birdies coming home for a 1 shot lead over Rodgers. Considering he played in the worst of the weather on Thursday in -1 70, his position is even more remarkable. is remarkable.

" It was 2 different days for sure. Yesterday was the worst weather I ever played in. Today was a completely different story. I made a lot of nice putts and drove the ball really well, put myself in a lot of good positions and my putter was hot."

You may have heard Taylor was recently married, and spent a week's honeymoon in a cottage in Muskoka. He came to Bermuda with his new bride and zero golf practice. "I told her we'd be going to Bermuda and Mexico over the next 2 weeks, so we can enjoy that" 

Despite the lack of quality PGA pros this off season event carries 500 Charles Schwab Cup points..

Other Canucks: Adam Hadwin 74 66 -6, Adam Svensson 68 68 -6 both T13, David Hearn 69 72 -4 T47.

Matt Hill, Nick Taylor MC which fell at E.,

Weather : While Saturday will be overcast with light breezes from the S, rain and T'Storms are forecast overnight and right into Sunday, so keep that in mind, Lightning in the area will force play to stop.

Bryan Angus

Canadians in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship field... live scoreboard

 PGA Tour: Butterfield Bermuda Championship scoreboard here

There are 6 Canadians playing at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Port Royal GC, Adam Hadwin (7.35) Nick Taylor (8.19) Taylor Penrith (8.41) Matt Hill (9.35) David Hearn (12.59) Adam Svensson (2.05)

Michael Gligic has W/D.

When  your marquee groups are Patrick Reed, Garrick Higgo, Danny Willett or Graeme McDowell, Sean Power and Dylan Frittelli you know this is a chronically week field on a very short course.

There is rain and wind in the forecast however, which should keep the scores respectable.

Bryan Angus

Good weekends for Rubenstein, Matsuyama, Hughes, Ames, Weir....final scores..

PGA Tour.. ZoZo Championship... final results here

It was just what the little island of Japan's golf fans wanted.. their Rock Star, Hideki Matsuyama already a legend after his Masters win, hit the 250 yard 5 wood of his life on the final hole, a Masters moment, then sunk the eagle putt for a 5 shot win of his National Championship....The Japanese paparazzi who follow his every move  in droves, finally had their story.

Hideki Matsuyama celebrates winning the tournament on the 18th green

Canadian Mac Hughes had his best week since he T6 last July at the Open, His T4 has moved him into the world top 50 at 48th, he joins his Olympic teammate Corey Connors who is 35th. 

Both Mike Weir and Stephen Ames have moved on to this weeks 2nd leg of the Charles Schwab Cup at the Timber Tech Championship in Boca Raton in Florida. Ames had a good week T16 while Mike was back in the pack 47th. They join the top 54. Final scores  here 

However Bernhard Langer with his playoff win at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic is looking good for his 6th Cup, especially with the event being in his back yard Boca Raton in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile in Mallorca, the Spanish holiday island off the Costa del Sol, Aaron Cockerill was in contention for a much needed top 10, with 66 66 68 but a final round 73 dropped him into a T26th. 

He has slipped to 507th in the world and is 153rd in the Race to Dubai after 21 events. With 2 tournaments left, the Portugal Masters and the Dubai Championship before the season ending DP World Tour Championship, he seems destined to return to Q school.

Just a note of congratulations for this country's best golf writer and journalist, and a good friend Lorne Rubenstein who was awarded an Honorary Life Membership up at Royal Dornoch for his contributions to the game and his "wonderful support of the club".

The renowned golf journalist and author Lorne Rubenstein

I remember well back in 2002 having Lorne on our Fairways radio show to talk about his plans to live in Dornoch with his wife Nell for the summer and write a book about it. It struck a kindred chord with me, being a Scot that this already well established, nae brilliant Canadian had such a love for the course we all revered. 

He captured his experience, the golf, the people, the country, the history with typical Rubenstein flair that made the book a best seller. Knowing Rube, this award will be amongst his most deserved and cherished.

Bryan Angus

Show time for Weir and Ames as Charles Schwab playoffs begin..

I'm keeping my eye on Mac Hughes (10.31am local) and Roger Sloan (9.47 local time) who have made the flight to Japan (13 hours ahead of EST) to play in the ZoZo Championship at the Accordia Golf Narashino CC, worth a whopping $9,950,000, and Brooke Henderson who remains at home from the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea, where by the by, there are 8 players called Kim, another 10 called Lee, and 6 called Park amongst the South Korean dominated field.

However I will pay most attention to Mike Weir and Stephen Ames who begin this 3 weeks of Charles Schwab Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour Champions, or the Senior Circuit as I call it.

Champions Tour: Dominion Energy Charity Classic

Weirsy begins play ranked 8th on the money list with just over $2m in earnings, Ames is 23rd with $1,152,000. 

Bernhard Langer leads with over $2.8m, Jim Furyk 2nd over $2,7 and Jerry Kelly 3rd with over $2.6m, but it's a tight race with Jimenez, Els, Sutherland and Goosen all ahead of Weir.

72 players begin this week with the top 54 moving on. Last year Mike ended up T2 on this Country Club of Virginia after a 63 second round had him in the lead, but a 71 Sunday wasn't good enough to beat Phil Mickelson.

November 5th,  it's the Timber Tech Championship on the Old Course at Broken Sound in Langer's backyard at Boca Raton, then it's on to the Phoenix CC for the final 30 and the Charles Schwab Championship.

Bryan Angus

Connors, Hughes and Pendrith enter Kent State Hall of Fame..

Yesterday Corey Connors, Mac Hughes and Taylor Pendrith, all now starring for Canada on the PGA Tour were part of 14 former students at Kent State who were honoured as the 2021 class with entry into their Hall of Fame.

Conners, Hughes and Pendrith were teammates on the 2012 Kent State golf squad that finished fifth in the nation. Conners was a two-time MAC Golfer of the Year and All-American who finished fourth at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Conners represented Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games along with Hughes, who was medalist at the 2011 MAC Championship and 2009 MAC Freshman of the Year.

Pendrith was the Mac championship medalist and Mac golfer of the year in 2013 and with Connors in 2014. They are the only two players in KSU history to qualify for the NCAA Championship 4 times.

They were all coached by Canadian Hall of Famer and Kent State legend, Herb Page and more recently former Canadian PGA Tour player Jon Mills

Bryan Angus 

Good weeks for Hadwin, Mickelson...Thanksgiving Monday..final scoreboards

 PGA Tour : Shriners Children's Open here

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends, incredibly mild today for October 11th with the humidex pushing the temperature to near 28*c.

Most of us leave Vegas after making yet another donation to the coffers of the state of Nevada, in the case of Adam Hadwin he went home a winner, without even giving the casinos a chance.

Four rounds in the 60's, 67 64 68 67 -18 was his best week in a while, T6 worth $245,000 and a good start to his 2021/22 season. The run away winner, Korean Sungjae Im with a Sunday 62, -24 total won $1,260,000.

I haven't written about Adam for a while, he's been on tour since 2014, his best season 2017 when he made 21/28 cuts and had his lone win at the Valspar Championship, made the Presidents Cup team and shot that 59 on La Quinta at the old Bob Hope ( Career Builders) to finish T2. He made over $3m for the first time.

He seemed well on his way, with solid seasons 2018 with 10 top 25 finishes, 22/25 cuts, and then 2019 in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs for the 5th time and 5 top 10's. He made the Presidents Cup team in 2020 and T4 at the Shriners Children's Open among his 3 top 10's.

Last year he slipped to 103 in the Fed Ex Cup standings and bowed out of the playoffs prior to the BMW Championship. At 5'8" he ranks 152nd in driving distance, 101st in GIR, He is 52nd in all around putting, 80th in putting average. Bottom line with a owgr of 142, now up to 116 he has settled into the middle of the pack, well outside the top 50 for all those WGC invites (Connors 34th, Hughes 54th), none of his numbers stand out.

Veteran Canadian star Richard Zokol is on record suggesting Adam just lacks that fire and drive that promised to take him into the elite category, I'm not sure Adam agrees, however with this week behind him and his confidence boosted and a Presidents Cup to aim for we'll be watching to see who's right.

For all other Canadian scores click on my link above.

LPGA: Cognizant Founders Cup scoreboard here.

Brooke Henderson returned to play after her T2 last week driven by a Sunday 64, in New Jersey with a T13 -6 score 67 70 70 71.

 

That was 12 shots behind wire to wire winner from Korea Jin Young Ko 63, 68 69 66 -18, posting her 16 straight rounds in the 60's matching Annika Sorenstam's record in 2005.

Alena Sharp M/C.

Champions Tour : Constellation Furyk and Friends Championship leaderboard here

Phil Mickelson showed up to help boost the field for his friend and colleague Jim Furyk and in typical flamboyant Mickelson fashion walked off with his 3 victory in 4 Champions Tour starts 66 67 68 -15 two better than another evergreen, Miguel Angel Jimenez

Mike Weir T13 -6  69 69 72 was in the mix after his opening 69, but you need 3 exceptional rounds to win on this tour.

Bryan Angus

With her self confidence renewed, let's see if Brooke is back...

 LPGA : ShopRite LPGA Classic final scoreboard here 

Of all the results over this weekend, good guy Danny Willett's return to the winners circle for the 8th time, at St Andrews no less, was special, his game went in the toilet after winning the 2016 Masters and he has diligently been clawing his way back, more mentally than physically, but their is nothing like confirming your seemingly lost ability with a win, especially one as prestigious as the Dunhill Links played over Kingsbarns, but especially Carnoustie and the Old Course.

I thought the Sunday bogey free -7 64 race up through the field for her T2 at the ShopRite was kind of the same story for Brooke Henderson, in fact she said " we finally played like us". She actually had the lead until Celine Boutier also birdied the 18th to pip her by a shot at -14.

" Just being aggressive and confident on the golf course again just feels awesome. Chase some birdies, making stuff happen and climbing the leaderboard. That's what we love to do on Sunday's and it's been a while since we've been doing that, so it feels really good"

She now has a win and 6 top 10's in 20 outings this year, still ranks 11th which most players on tour would die for,  but her last top 10 outing was back in June 7th at the US Open, and in that 4 months, she lost her confidence. A few weeks ago she returned to Smiths Falls to she her dad/coach for the first time in a while and said then " it was great to be home at last again. Dad went over my entire game and gave me tips in all aspects of it that were really good, helped get my confidence right back up again".

Her 248 birdies are 6th on the LPGA, and this week she will be joined by Alena Sharp in New Jersey at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

If you watch enough golf, you'll know that most all pro's have streak's when they play markedly better, usually after a great result when their self belief is high, often on courses that suit their eye, so let's see if that's the case this week for Brooke and Brittany.

Bryan Angus

You remember Masters Champion Danny Willett...he's won again..final scoreboard Dunhill Championship

 European Tour : Alfred Dunill Links Championship final 

Danny Willett handed himself the perfect birthday present as he claimed an eighth European Tour win at the 2021 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The Englishman carded a closing 68 on his 34th birthday to get to 18 under and win by two shots, adding to his record of victories at some of the European Tour's most iconic venues.

Willett has won at Augusta National, Wentworth Golf Club and Crans-sur-Sierre to name but a few, and he can now add the Old Course at St Andrews to his list.

The two time Rolex Series champion entered the day with a three shot lead and while he was briefly caught by Richard Bland, he produced a textbook display of front running on the back nine to hold off the challenge of Tyrrell Hatton and Joakim Lagergren and become the first player to win a European Tour event on their birthday since Ernie Els at the 2004 HSBC World Match Play Championship.

This is the second time the 2016 Masters Tournament winner has tasted victory at this event, winning the team section alongside Jonathan Smart - who is back on the bag for him this week - in 2017.

Team glory this week went to Michael Hoey and Maeve Danaher at 36 under, with Danaher becoming the first woman to win the event after the pair finished at 36 under.

Bryan Angus