Pendrith leads Taylor at Canadian Open; McIlroy well back
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Taylor Pendrith fired a 5-under 65 in the opening round of the RBC Canadian Open on Thursday to to place himself in contention from TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.
Pendrith caught fire on the back nine, carding four birdies to close out his round and take the clubhouse lead at the conclusion of his round. He finished the day in a tie for eighth.
After Pendrith signed his scorecard, the afternoon wave took advantage of favourable conditions created by morning rain. Cristobal Del Solar of Chile and Thorbjørn Olesen of Denmark hold the tournament lead after a pair of 9-under 61s.
"I drove the ball really nicely today," Pendrith told TSN's Bob Weeks after the round. "Put myself in a lot of fairways and gave myself a lot of chances. [I] hit my irons pretty solid.
"Didn't hit my wedges great, missed a couple greens with wedges," he added. "Hit a few poor ones that were really tough to control the spin with the greens being so soft. But hit a lot of really nice mid, long irons and was able to capitalize on some of those."
Nick Taylor, the 2023 winner of his national open at Oakdale Golf & Country Club, also had a strong showing Thursday with a 4-under 66. He sits in a tie for 16th.
Hailing for Abbotsford, B.C., Taylor got off to a hot start with two birdies across his first three holes. He would drop down to 3-under on the day with another birdie to begin his back nine but carded his first bogey of the day one hole later.
He would rebound by way of three red numbers over the next six holes, before ultimately dropping a shot at the last to fall one back of Pendrith to end his day.
"The putter was really solid today," Taylor said. "Made some nice mid-length putts for birdie, especially when I made a bogey on the front nine after that. Some of the par-4s were playing pretty long. On nine I was 220 [yards] in there, so it was disappointing with the five, but it's fine. That will happen with some of the lengths of the holes.
"Driver, have to clean up just a hair. Drove it good that last six or seven holes, but everything was pretty solid."
Both Pendrith and Taylor were grouped with Mackenzie Hughes, who used an eagle at the par-4 fifth for a tie for 44th with a 2-under 68. The Hamilton, Ont., native holed out from 194 yards out, landing the ball just past the hole before it spun back for a two-shot gain.
Hughes is tied with Thornhill, Ont., native Ben Silverman on the leaderboard, who is making just his third start on the PGA Tour this season.
"It was great," Taylor said on playing in the all-Canadian group. "It felt like a practice round at times because we do it so often. It was fun, we were kind of feeding off of each other, had it going there.
"[Pendrith] played great, [Hughes] was solid, holed out that shot on five, so it was a fun day."
Meanwhile, Adam Hadwin enjoyed a solid opening-round at his national open, shooting 3-under on the day.
Hadwin, of Moose Jaw, Sask., has carded four birdies and just one bogey, as he looks to rebound from a missed cut at last year's tournament.
He was greeted with cheers from the fans on the the par-3 14th, dubbed the "Rink Hole" when he donned a 4 Nations Face-Off Team Canada jersey while walking up to the green.
Corey Conners struggled to get going Thursday, finishing with an even-par 70 in a tie for 99th.
The Listowel, Ont., native was the low Canadian at in 2024 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, shooting 12-under through four rounds to tie his career-best finish at the tournament, a solo sixth.
McIlroy struggles in Round 1
Two-time Canadian Open winner Rory McIlroy struggled in the first round of his fifth consecutive start at the tournament.
McIlroy finished the day 1-over and, with low scores a plenty on Thursday, is in position to have to fight to make the cut on Friday.
After a tough start, the recently minted Grand Slam winner fought hard to get to 1-under through 16 holes, before a pair of back-breaking bogeys on the par-4 17th and 18th.