It was perhaps fitting that Taylor Pendrith was resting on the couch when captain Trevor Immelman called to inform him that he would be picked for the International Presidents Cup team. The big-hitting Canadian had spent plenty of time laid up on that same couch during a four-month recovery from a rib injury that interrupted his rookie PGA Tour season.
“For me to get out here in my first year and have everything happen that happened, and to end up being selected for the team is a dream come true,” Pendrith told Postmedia by phone. “It’s been weird with the long break from injury but to top it off with a chance to go to Charlotte and beat the Americans on the Presidents Cup team is an honour, and I couldn’t ask for anything better to end the year off.”
On Tuesday, Pendrith was officially announced as one of six captain’s picks for the International Team, where he will join good friend and fellow Canadian Corey Conners at Quail Hollow in North Carolina in two weeks to take on Davis Love’s heavily favoured Americans.
Pendrith was named to the team along with South Koreans Si Woo Kim, K.H. Lee, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Colombian Sebastian Munoz and Australian Cameron Davis. The captain’s picks join the International teams’ six automatic qualifiers Conners, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, Aussie Adam Scott, Chile’s Mito Pereira, and South Koreans Tom Kim and Sungjae Im.
There were originally eight automatic qualifiers before world No. 2 Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann were deemed ineligible after joining LIV Golf. Pendrith will be seen by some as a surprise choice despite a hot finish to an injury-shortened season as a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie.
After the BMW Championship Immelman texted Pendrith to congratulate him on a good season; a few days later his phone rang.
“I was not expecting that call,” Pendrith said. “It was pretty awesome.”
Pendrith’s season ended a week shy of the Tour Championship with a final position of 47th in the FedEx Cup standings in just 21 starts.
“The way he responded to the adversity of a serious injury in his rookie season, rejoined the PGA Tour and had five top-15 finishes in his last six events … meant that he was someone we couldn’t look past,” Immelman said of Pendrith.
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Pendrith recently had a chance to meet most of his fellow teammates at a two-day team retreat to Quail Hollow organized by Immelman. Pendrith knows Perreira from their days on the Korn Ferry Tour, and Davis from his days on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada, but there were some fresh introductions among the team.
“A lot of the guys I just met really, so it was good to have those two days in Charlotte to get comfortable and familiar with the guys, and familiar with their golf games especially,” Pendrith said.
One teammate he’s quite familiar with is Conners. Considering they served as best men at one another’s weddings, Immelman’s two Canadians won’t need any extra chemistry lessons.
“We’ve played a lot of golf over the years and it would be awesome to play with him,” Pendrith said. “I think we’d do really well and our games go well together.”
It’s a safe bet the Canadians will be paired together at some point and Pendrith was already thinking strategy.
“He is a phenomenal iron player and I’m a good driver of the golf ball. If we get in alternate shot, the course sets up where the guy who tees off on the even holes hits a lot of iron shots, so I think we’d be a pretty good team.”
Pendrith’s length off the tee was certainly a consideration for Immelman, who likely had assistant captain Mike Weir, and possibly Conners, in his ear.
“I don’t know that for a fact,” Pendrith said of any extra support from the team’s Canadian contingent. “I think they know what I’m capable of. Obviously (Immelman) saw it too. He saw my potential and that I could be a valuable player for the team if I drive it well and I’m really looking forward to getting with the teammates, driving the ball, and winning some matches.”
A player’s current form, fit for the course, and team chemistry are what captain’s picks are all about and Pendrith checks every box.
“Quail Hollow is a golf course which rewards length, and Taylor is without doubt one of the longest drivers of the ball in our sport,” Immelman said.
Left off the International team were Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes. Both players finished ahead of Pendrith in Presidents Cup qualifying points and Hadwin was a member of both the 2017 and 2019 team.
The American team will add Love’s six captain’s picks to its star-studded team on Wednesday.
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