BLAINE, Minn. – Sinking three birdie chances over his final four holes Friday lifted Canadian Taylor Pendrith into sole possession of the lead at the 2024 3M Open, shooting a bogey-free 7-under 64 at TPC Twin Cities.
Coming off a top-5 finish at last week’s Barracuda Championship in California, Pendrith positioned himself for his second win of the 2024 season as he takes a two-stroke lead over Matt NeSmith to Saturday’s third round.
“Played really nice last week and sneaky had a chance late on Sunday, so that was fun,” said Pendrith, who notched his fifth top-10 of the season last week. “Game's in a good spot and I've been playing really nicely the first two days here, so hopefully keep it up.
“I've been hitting the ball really solidly, been hitting a lot of greens. Today was tricky with the wind, it was blowing pretty hard at times, so my speed was great all day and stayed really patient. I didn't really have many good looks through the first hour I would say of golf and was able to stay patient and make a couple, made a couple longer ones.”
A bit of a slow start with a pair of birdies during his front nine to get to 7-under for the championship, Pendrith rolled in his putt from outside of 15 feet at the 10th to reach 8-under.
Following a pair of birdies from eight feet at 12 and 15, Pendrith dropped a 30-footer to take the outright lead at 11-under.
On in two at the 18th, a two-putt birdie gave the former Kent State University golfer a two-stroke advantage at the midway point of the tournament.
Bogey-free through his first 36 holes this week, Pendrith shifts his focus to the weekend as the 33-year-old has made seven consecutive cuts.
"I feel good, just got to keep doing what I've been doing, put the ball in play and hit some greens,” he said. “Low scores are definitely out there if you hit good shots. Like I said, I've hit a lot of greens the first two days, which has been really helpful. The putter kind of heated up there on the back nine, which was nice.”
Turning professional in 2014, Pendrith claimed the first victory of his career in May at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and then would place tied for 16th at the U.S. Open last month at Pinehurst.
NeSmith opened the championship with a 5-under 66 Thursday before rolling in five birdies and an eagle for a round of 64 during the second round Friday.
“I've been putting well for the last three weeks or so, it's been hot. I've been working on it—finally starting to come through,” NeSmith said Friday. “I'm just putting better and I'm hitting the golf ball solidly. Got a good idea of kind of what the golf ball's doing, just being patient and not getting frustrated when things don't go your way.”
Falling in a playoff at the ISCO Championship two weeks ago, NeSmith said he’s using that momentum in hopes of collecting his first PGA Tour victory in the 140th start of his career.
“That was the closest I've been to winning a golf tournament since I've been here. It was just nice to be back in the thick of it and it was nice to show myself that I could do it again,” he said. “It's been a long time, since the Korn Ferry in 2019 in Boise, Idaho. I felt more comfortable coming down the stretch today and hopefully that will lead on to the weekend.”
Andrew Putnam carded a 5-under 66 during Friday’s second round, and he will begin the third round Saturday tied for third place with first-round lead Jacob Bridgeman at 9-under 135.
Bridgeman, who took the opening-round lead with his 8-under 63 Thursday, started quickly with a birdie on his opening hole Firday, but stumbled with a pair of bogeys mid-round to fall to 7-under for the championship.
The PGA Tour rookie battled back by carding back-to-back birdies at his 15th and 16th holes to move back into a share of third place after his round of 1-under 70.
Tom Hoge, a two-time Minnesota Golf Association Amateur champion, led players with local ties this week, finishing at 1-under 141, narrowly missing an eagle putt at the last to get him into the weekend.
Former University of Minnesota golfer Ben Warian fired a 2-under 69 during his PGA Tour debut on Friday, and posted a 74 during his final round to miss the cut by three strokes.
The third round of the 2024 3M Open gets underway at 6:50 a.m. Saturday at TPC Twin Cities.
THE SIXTH 3M OPEN
TPC TWIN CITIES
BLAINE, MINN.
7,431 YARDS, PAR 71
FRIDAY’S SECOND ROUND RESULTS
1. Taylor Pendrith, Canada, 66-64—130
2. Matt NeSmith, United States, 68-64—132
T3. Andrew Putnam, United States, 67-66—133
T3. Jacob Bridgeman, United States, 63-70—133
T5. Doug Ghim, United States, 70-64—134
T5. Lanto Griffin, United States, 68-66—134
T5. Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela, 68-66—134
T5. Alex Smalley, United States, 69-65—134
T9. Andrew Novak, United States, 65-70—135
T9. Kurt Kitayama, United States, 66-69—135
T9. Sam Burns, United States, 70-65—135
T9. Matt Kuchar, United States, 68-67—135
T9. Justin Lower, United States, 67-68—135
T9. Sahith Theegala, United States, 66-69—135
T9. Gary Woodland, United States, 66-69—135
T9. Stewart Cink, United States, 66-69—135
T9. Robert Streb, United States, 70-65—135
MC. TOM HOGE, FARGO, N.D., 70-71—141
MC. TROY MERRITT, SPRING LAKE PARK, MINN., 72-71—143
MC. BEN WARIAN (a), STILLWATER, MINN., 69-74—143
MC. ERIK VAN ROOYEN, UNIV. OF MINN., 75-74—149
MC. JEFF SORENSON, BLAINE, MINN., 76-74—150
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
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