September 26, 2024; Île Bizard, Quebec, CAN; Taylor Pendrith of the International Team tees off on the second hole during the first round of The Presidents Cup golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagen Images Canada’s Taylor Pendrith shot a 10-under-par 61 to take a commanding lead after round one of the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas on Thursday.
By the time play ended at TPC Summerlin, nine players were tied for second at the end of the round with 7-under 64, and 11 others were tied for 11th at 6 under.
Penrith equaled the lowest 18-hole score of his career on Thursday by making five birdies on each nine. He started on the back nine and made a 12 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 11; After that, he didn’t need to make putts longer than 10 feet, because his approach was on point. Pendrith almost holed out for eagle on the par-4 fourth, leaving inches for birdie.
Penrith won his first PGA Tour title at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May and competed for the International Team at last month’s Presidents Cup. After finishing the summer in the top 50, he isn’t competing for FedEx Cup fall standings points to keep his Tour card, but others have the future on their minds. The top 125 players at the end of the fall will retain full status on the tour.
Joseph Bramlett (No. 146) and Bud Cooley (No. 156) are two of the nine players tied for 64th and would benefit greatly from moving up the standings with strong performances this week.
JT Poston, Mark Hubbard, Doug Ghim, Canadian Ben Silverman, Philippines’ Rico Hoey, England’s Harry Hall and Germany’s Matti Schmid also tied for 64th.
Rickie Fowler is not far off the pace after carding a 5-under 66. Tom Kim of South Korea, the two-time defending champion of the tournament, opened with a 2-under 69.
–Field Level Media