The weekend has arrived at The Players Championship with four out of the six Canadians in the field finishing inside the cut line as they now guarantee themselves a share of the massive $25 million purse set to be handed out on Sunday.
Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Nick Taylor, and PGA Tour rookie Sudarshan Yellamaraju will all tee it up at TPC Sawgrass for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday, while Mackenzie Hughes and A.J. Ewart will both head home early after finishing well outside the cut line.
Conners fired a 5-under 67 on Friday to surge up the leaderboard, and even held the solo lead at one point after holing out for eagle at the par-5 ninth.
The Listowel, Ont. native carded seven birdies and one eagle on the day, but trail off towards the end of the round with three bogeys after making the turn.
After the conclusion of play on Friday, Conners sits in a tie for fourth on the leaderboard at 8-under through 36 holes.
Pendrith had the latest start among Canadians in the second round, and bounced back nicely with a 3-under 69 after shooting 2-over in the opening round on Thursday.
The Richmond Hill, Ont. native got hot early with an eagle on the par-5 second before closing out the front with a birdie on nine.
He opened the back with a long string of pars, before carding his lone bogey of the day on the 15th hole.
A birdie on 16 got him back to 1-under for the tournament, while two pars on the difficult closing stretch kept him in red numbers ahead of the third round.
Taylor, who had the early start among the Canadian contingent, also rebounded following a rough opening round, and got back to even for the tournament with a 2-under 70.
The Abbotsford, B.C. native shook off an early bogey and found his form with consecutive birdies on the second and third to get to 1-over for the week.
He would then make par on his next 14 holes, before closing with a birdie to sit at even and finish two shots inside the cut line.
Yellamaraju, of Winnipeg, was in danger of missing the weekend playing his first three holes on the back at 3-over, but quickly found his form and closed with three birdies for an even-72 on Friday.
Hughes struggled massively in the second round with a 5-over 77, tied for the 12th worst score among the 119-man field on Friday.
The Dundas, Ont. native never quite got going in the early part of his round with three bogeys over his first nine holes, and a double-bogey on the par-4 12th would essentially ended his chances at making the cut.
He finishes his week at 7-over, five shots back of the cut.
Ewart, of Coquitlam, B.C., left himself an uphill climb after signing for a 6-over 78 on Thursday, and also failed to get much going by playing the front nine at 3-over.
He was 9-over for the week after 36 holes, and joins Hughes in having an early start to the weekend.
Tracking the Canadians
Follow the Canadians’ second-round scores from TPC Sawgrass below:
*Cut line: +2*
| Pos. | Player | TOT | THRU | R2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T4 | Corey Conners | -8 | F | -5 |
| T35 | Taylor Pendrith | -1 | F | -3 |
| T42 | Nick Taylor | E | F | -2 |
| T51 | Sudarshan Yellamaraju | +1 | F* | E |
| T105 | Mackenzie Hughes | +7 | F | +5 |
| T114 | A.J. Ewart | +9 | F* | +3 |
*Denotes back-nine start
Current leader: Ludvig Aberg, -12
