Canada’s Taylor Pendrith birdied three of the last four holes to grab a two-stroke lead after Friday’s second round of the PGA Tour’s 3M Open.
Pendrith, seeking his second title of 2024, fired a seven-under-par 64 and remained bogey free after 36 holes to stand on 12-under 130 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.
“I’ve been hitting the ball really solidly, hitting a lot of greens,” Pendrith said. “Today was pretty tricky with the wind, it was blowing pretty hard at times, so my speed was great all day and stayed really patient.
“Played really solid, drove the ball well and hit a lot of greens.”
American Matt NeSmith was second on 10-under 132 after a 64 with countrymen Jacob Bridgeman and Andrew Putnam on nine-under 133 and Americans Doug Ghim, Lanto Griffin, Alex Smalley and Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas on eight-under 134.
South Africa’s MJ Daffue just made the cut on two-under 140 (T53) after carding 67, while countrymen Dylan Frittelli (one-under 141), Garrick Higgo (one-over 143), Thriston Lawrence and Erik van Rooyen (both seven-over 149) all missed it.
Pendrith (33) won his first PGA Tour title in May at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and had his best finish since then last week by sharing fifth at the Barracuda Championship.
“That was fun,” Pendrith said. “My game is in a good spot and I’ve been playing really nicely the first two days here, so I will hopefully keep it up.”
Pendrith, ranked 59th in the world, holed a 55-foot putt at the par-three 4th and sank a five-footer to birdie the 7th, then began the back nine with a 16-foot birdie putt and added a birdie putt from just inside eight feet at the par-five 12th.
His closing run included an eight-foot birdie putt at 15, a 30-footer for birdie at 16 and a tap-in birdie at the par-five 18th after reaching the green in two over a water hazard.
“I’ve hit a lot of greens the first two days, which has been really helpful,” Pendrith said. “The putter kind of heated up there on the back nine, which was nice.”
NeSmith had his best PGA Tour finish two weeks ago, sharing second after losing in a five-man playoff at the ISCO Championship. His bogey-free round Friday included a 14-foot eagle putt at the par-five 12th.
“I played really solid,” NeSmith said. “I’ve been putting really well for the last three weeks or so. It has been very hot. I’ve just been working on it, it’s finally starting to come through.”
American Hayden Buckley aced the par-three 17th hole for his third career PGA Tour hole-in-one, the first since last year’s Players Championship. His towering tee shot at the 178-yard hole landed short of the hole and went in after one bounce. But he missed the cut.
“It gave me a little bit of something to smile at, at least, headed home,” Buckley said.
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Photo: David Berding/Getty Images
