Taylor Pendrith did what Ben Kohles couldn’t at the end of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday, and it made all the difference.
A pair of clutch par saves at the 16th and 17th holes gave Pendrith a chance coming to the closing hole at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. When Kohles failed to par the par-5 18th hole, which played the easiest on the day, Pendrith had the first victory of his PGA Tour career.
For Pendrith, a 32-year-old Canadian who finished at 23-under-par 261, the victory changed the arc of his career, which essentially had stalled because of shoulder issues.
For Kohles, however, it was a brutal way to lose after birdies at 16 and 17 sent him to the final hole with a one-stroke lead. After his second shot into the 18th settled into the right greenside rough, Kohles failed to get his third shot on the green. When he missed a 5-foot par putt, he cleared the path for Pendrith.
“I haven’t had my best stuff this year. It’s super special."
Taylor Pendrith
“I feel for Ben making bogey, but I’m super thrilled. It’s amazing,” said Pendrith, who is now eligible for the remaining signature events, including this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, and fully exempt through 2026.
How slender was the margin?
At the 17th hole, Pendrith’s par putt did a 360-degree circle around the hole before falling in after Kohles made a birdie to take the lead.
On the 18th green, Kohles could have been in a playoff, but his par putt slid past on the left side, leaving him stunned by the sudden turn of events.
“I haven’t had my best stuff this year. It’s super special,” said Pendrith, who earned $1.71 million from the $9.5 million purse.
A member of the International Presidents Cup team two years ago, Pendrith has been dealing with calcific tendinitis in his left shoulder since last year. He has undergone three non-surgical procedures in an effort to solve the problem, which cost him some of the power that defines his game.
“[It’s] been tough mentally, for sure. I would say my game is built around driving the golf ball, and I've lost a lot of speed in the last year,” said Pendrith, who had consecutive T11 finishes, at Puntacana and New Orleans, before the Nelson event.
“Now I'm getting it back, so I can, I guess, fully commit to my driver swing and hit it hard again, whereas before I would flinch or ease off.
“Mentally it's been difficult. Getting back to kind of how I like to play golf I guess and can swing hard on the shots, so that's a good feeling.”
It also thrust Pendrith back into the picture for a Presidents Cup spot later this year in Montreal playing for Canadian captain Mike Weir.
“Huge motivation for me obviously to get back on that team. It being in Canada this year is extra motivation,” Pendrith said.
It was a gut-wrenching finish for Kohles, who has struggled to find sustained success on the PGA Tour.
Kohles is best known for winning his first two professional starts on what was known as the Web.com Tour in 2012, quickly playing his way onto the PGA Tour. He won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year to regain his tour privileges but struggled most of this season.
“Of course it stings, right? You feel like you had it right there and let it slip away,” Kohles said.
“I'm just taking all the positives. It was an unbelievable week. I get to go back to my home state [North Carolina], and I think I got into [the Wells Fargo Championship, via the AON Swing 5 list] for next week, which is pretty awesome.
“If you told me I got into that at the beginning of the week, I would definitely take it. Yeah, just going to take the positives and keep moving forward.”
Ron Green Jr.