PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 19, 2023

Taylor Pendrith

Oak Hill Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Taylor Pendrith is with us on day 2 of the 105th PGA Championship. Taylor, 1-under 69 today. Can you summarize your round for us maybe?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Yeah. I stayed very patient today. I don't think I hit very many fairways. I mean, three or four maybe at most. So I was able to kind of put myself in a nice spot around the greens to save some pars, and my putter really kept me in it.

Probably the bust putting day I've had in a long time. I was able to make some birdies on my back nine, so, yeah, overall super pleased. Try and hit some more fairways tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: We will open it up for questions.

Q. You were first in strokes gained putting for most of your round. Certainly it's early, but what do you attribute the good putting effort to?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: I mean, I needed it today. If I had an average or bad putting day, it could have been ugly. Yeah, definitely kept me in it.

Made a nice -- couple nice putts early, some shorter ones, but it just gave me some confidence. I was rolling it well. I rolled it good yesterday and just didn't make anything.

To see a couple go in early was nice. Yeah, just tried to keep myself under the hole and was able to make some putts.

Q. From what you saw on the golf course in your prep Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, if you had been given 1-under heading into the weekend, would you have taken it?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Oh, yeah. Tuesday and Wednesday were super hard out here. I knew the winds were going to die down a little bit, but it's picking up now, and it's tricky.

Even with no wind at all, this place is very difficult, especially if you are in the rough. It doesn't stop there. Around the greens is difficult as well.

You just kind of have to plot your way around. If you are going to miss a green, try to keep it in an easier spot and be aggressive when you can.

Q. You are one of the players that can advance the ball out of this deep rough perhaps better than some. Is there confidence coming into a course like this and a lot of major championship courses where you are one of the guys that can do that?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Yeah, definitely. I feel like there's some similarities to Winged Foot. I know a lot of people have said that, but I played well there.

It's really difficult to hit fairways for everybody here, but if you are in the rough, yeah, you just gouge, swing as hard as you can and try to get it just short of the green and go from there.

Haven't been driving it great this week. Last couple of weeks, actually. I've just kind of managed my game well so far. Yeah, just trying to keep it below the pins.

Q. You played with Michael Block, who shot even par. How would you contextualize how impressive that is as a club pro to be right up there, and what stood out to you about his game and just him overall?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Yeah, super impressive. He is a great dude. We had a lot of fun out there, kept it light. Yeah, he played unreal.

I think through nine holes today he was 3-under for the day. Maybe -- I don't know if he ever got to leading, but he was tied for second for a long time. Yeah, really good player, a better person. He was awesome. We had a ton of fun, and good for him to finish up strong. Yeah, hopefully he has a good weekend.

Q. How important is it teaching the game and club pros from your perspective and just people who know the game and help kids and juniors and amateurs learn the game?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: It's the future of golf, and a lot of respect for all the PGA pros. They do a great job. Yeah, teaching kids is going to be the future of golf.

Q. What does it mean to you to represent Canada and to see not only your name up towards the top of the leaderboard, but also Corey and Svensson and Hadwin?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: It's great. There's a bunch of us here this week, which is awesome to see. I know we all played pretty nice yesterday, so I haven't looked today at how anybody is doing. Yeah, it's great. There's so much support. Tons of Canadians here, with the border being so close.

Yeah, feel very comfortable here, but we're always rooting for each other, trying to beat each other. It's always nice to see a couple of flags on the leaderboard. It's nice to see so far.

Q. How many family and friends do you have here today or this week?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: I have a few. My parents are here. My wife is here. Wife's parents, brother and sister-in-law and some friends are here as well. It's great to see them, and it's an easy trip for them down here. It's nice to share the week with them.

Q. Justin Rose is up there as well. I don't know that he has hit a fairway yet today. He is battling it. Being out of position off the tee here and fighting to shoot a good score, how much does that take?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: It's a grind. I don't know the exact number of fairways I hit. I've been trying to think.

Q. Three.

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Three. Just felt like I was in the rough every hole and just trying to get it somewhere around the green and keep it in the fairway, but I relied a lot on my putter today.

If I had a bad putting day, it could have been an ugly round. Yeah, managed to save it with that.

Q. You were talking about Michael. You see him hit the shank on the par-3 and bounce back with a lot of great pars to finish out his round. How tough is that to do, and how much -- how impressive is that to see him bounce back from something like that?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: He took it pretty good. He was walking off the tee laughing and said he has a full wedge in. He didn't hit any shots there in the practice round. So he was chuckling about that.

Yeah, I mean, 6, he hit an awesome shot into 6, good par on 7, great shot into 8, and then nice par save on 9. It was a grind, but super impressive.

He putted it unreal yesterday, and today did more of the same. Just kind of plotted his way around, and he had it going there early in the round, which was cool to see. Yeah, super cool dude.

Q. You're able to post a good round into the weekend. What's the mindset going forward as you try and keep this momentum going?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Just enjoy it. Trying to have fun, hit some more fairways, and just do more of the same. Hopefully keep the putter hot and more fairways and greens and go from there.