WICHITA, Kansas – Jared Wolfe carded a 5-under 65 on Saturday to claim the 54-hole lead at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth at 17-under 193. Taylor Montgomery and Taylor Pendrith sit three strokes off the lead at 14-under 196 after three rounds.

Wolfe, who began the day one stroke off the lead, used a birdie-eagle-birdie start to gain the lead after his first three holes on a windy day at Crestview Country Club. After a bogey on the par-4 fourth, he settled into the round with four consecutive pars. The Murray State University product tallied his third birdie of the day on No. 9 to make the turn at 16-under.

On the back nine, Wolfe converted another birdie on the par-4 11^th to reach 17-under. After dropping a shot on the par-5 14^th, the 32-year-old rebounded with a birdie on No. 15 to get back to 17-under for the week. After a birdie on the par-3 17^th, he stumbled with a bogey on the par-4 18^th to finish the third round three strokes clear of the field.

“I got off to a dream start,” Wolfe said after the round. “I just kind of kept things going with some good par saves. It was a good day.”

Earlier this season, Wolfe captured his first Korn Ferry Tour title at The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at Baha Mar. Entering the final round in the Bahamas, Wolfe held the 54-hole lead and went on to secure the victory. Once again, he has the 54-hole lead and his second Korn Ferry Tour title within reach.

“It always helps,” he said of his win earlier this season. “Thankfully, that’s kind of the way most of the wins I’ve had have been. I know my game right now and I know it’s solid. If I play my game, I feel like things should go well.”

In 17 starts this season, Wolfe has made 13 cuts with four top-10s and entered the week ranked 15^th in The 25. With a victory tomorrow, he would join Davis Riley as the only two-time winners on the Korn Ferry Tour this season.

“That’d be awesome (to win again),” he said. “I feel like this year has been the best year that I’ve had. I want to cash in on how I feel like I’ve been playing this year.”

Montgomery carded a 5-under 65 on Saturday to claim a share of second place after 54-holes. Like Wolfe, Montgomery played his first three holes 4-under to start his round. After making the turn at 12-under for the week, he tallied two birdies on his back nine to reach 14-under for the tournament.

In his first full season on Tour, Montgomery has made eight cuts in 15 starts highlighted by two top-10s. Earlier this season, he finished solo-third at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and T2 at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The 25-year-old entered the week ranked 32^nd in The 25 and in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title.

Pendrith, who began the day one stroke clear of the field, carded four birdies against three bogeys on Saturday to reach 14-under after three rounds.

Pendrith, who entered the week ranked third on The 25, is still in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title. In 18 starts this year, the 29-year-old has made 16 cuts highlighted by three runner-up finishes.

Final-round tee times will run from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. on Sunday with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10.

WICHITA, Kansas – Taylor Pendrith fired an 8-under 62 on Friday to claim the 36-hole lead at the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth at 13-under 127. Jared Wolfe sits alone in second at 12-under 128.

Pendrith, who began the day two strokes off the lead, started the second round with two birdies on his first four holes. After his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 fifth, the Canadian took advantage of the short par-4 seventh with an eagle.

On the back, Pendrith tallied his third birdie of the round on the par-4 11^th. After a par on No. 12, he caught fire with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 13-16 to reach 13-under for the week. He closed with pars on Nos. 17 and 18 to card an 8-under 62, good for a new career-low on the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I hit the driver really well,” Pendrith said. “There are a couple holes here where you can get a little more aggressive and get it up close to the greens. I drove it really well and my putter was on. I didn’t make too many mistakes and when I missed the green, I was in pretty simple spots where I could almost chip in.”

Pendrith, who won twice on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in 2019, has been one of the most consistent players on the Korn Ferry Tour this season. In 18 starts this season, Pendrith has recorded five top-10s and three runner-up finishes. Despite the close calls, the Kent State University product is still in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title.

“It’s a great spot to be. I’ve been in similar positions this year, but I haven’t been able to close it out,” he said. “It’s nice to get off to a good start. I feel like at those other tournaments, I was always kind of trailing. I’ll just try and make as many birdies as I can and see where we’re at on Sunday. I’m looking forward to it.”

After a great stretch of play on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this summer, Pendrith earned a spot in last week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club. Highlighted by a final-round 70, the 29-year-old earned a T23 result in his U.S. Open debut.

“That place (Winged Foot) is so hard. I’m happy to be back out here making birdies,” he said with a laugh. “I played great on Sunday and shot even-par. That gives me a ton of confidence. A lot of the top guys out there struggled which is very easy to do there. I managed my game nicely and had a good week.”

 

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A major debut for @pendy31 ? The Richmond Hill, Ontario native and Team Canada member was 3rd in driving distance and closed off the weekend with an even-par 70 on Sunday – the second-best score of the day ? He also cleaned up with a $116,385 paycheck – the largest of his career ? #GolfCanadaLeaderboard #TeamCanada #golfstagram #teamtitleist #golfer #golflife

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Wolfe, who held a share of the first-round lead, sits alone in second after a 5-under 65 on Friday. Beginning on the back nine, Wolfe carded two birdies and an eagle on his first eight holes to reach 11-under for the tournament. On the par-4 18^th, Wolfe’s tee shot narrowly fell out of bounds resulting in a double bogey. Despite the setback, he rallied with three birdies on his final nine holes to reach 12-under after two rounds.

“I know how I’m playing right now, and I know I like this course,” Wolfe said. “I know how I’m putting it so, I’m just kind of waiting to see how each hole and each shot goes. Thankfully, I made a lot of birdies again today and hopefully I can keep that going on the weekend.”

Third-round tee times will run from approximately 9:20 – 11:20 a.m. on Saturday with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10.

OMAHA, Neb. – Canadian golfer Taylor Pendrith took a huge step toward locking up a spot in the U.S. Open with his fourth consecutive top-three finish on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday.

Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., finished in a five-way tie for second at the Pinnacle Bank Championship, one stroke behind winner Seth Reeves of the United States.

Pendrith shot a personal-best 5-under 66 on Sunday to come in at 10 under for the 72-hole tournament.

The 29-year-old Pendrith is third in the tour standings.

The top five after next week’s event in North Plains, Ore., earn spots in the U.S. Open, Sept. 17-20 in Mamaroneck, N.Y. It would mark Pendrith’s first career major.

The top 25 in the Korn Ferry standings next fall will earn spots on the PGA Tour for the 2021-22 season.

Pendrith birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 17 on Sunday to charge up the leaderboard.

Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver tied for 20th at 6 under.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Less than six months removed from his first Korn Ferry Tour victory at the Panama Championship, Davis Riley became the first player this season to win twice on Tour with a two-stroke win at the TPC San Antonio Championship at the Oaks. Riley posted a final-round 5-under 67 on Saturday and finished at 16-under for the week to top Paul Barjon and Canadian Taylor Pendrith.

With the win, the former University of Alabama star moves to the top spot on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour points standings and is one win away from the three-win “Battlefield Promotion” to the PGA TOUR. The feat has only been accomplished 11 times in the Tour’s history, most recently by Wesley Bryan in 2016.

“I got off to a good start there birdieing the first hole and kind of slowed down there in the middle,” said Riley, who made the turn at 1-under 35. “But I tried to remember what I did yesterday where I played really well on the back nine. I think I birdied three of the last four today and I’m really proud of the way I handled myself. I give a lot of props to Panama week, being able to pull from those memories.”

Riley’s finishing stretch was cinematic. He holed out from the bunker on 15 before throwing a dart with his approach to 18 inches at the par-3 16^th. He burned the edge for birdie at the 17^th before entering the 18^th with a one-shot lead. Playing in the last group of the day and knowing he just needed par to win, Riley again stuck his approach shot inside two feet and tapped in for a closing birdie.

“I tried to control my breathing,” said Riley of his experience approaching the 18^th green, which is guarded by a creek. “Because it’s a 95-yard wedge shot. I’ve hit that shot a thousand times within 10 feet.”

Riley edged two players who have been extremely familiar with the top of the leaderboard over the past two weeks in Barjon and Pendrith. Barjon went T3-T2 over the last two weeks at TPC San Antonio (first on the Canyons Course, followed by the Oaks Course), while Pendrith has gone T3-2^nd-T2 over his last three starts. Pendrith, a Team Canada Young Pro Squad member, was the college roommate of PGA TOUR player Corey Conners, the defending champion of the Valero Texas Open.

Ironically, the last tournament Riley played, the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, he was passed in the standings by his roommate, Will Zalatoris. Zalatoris won in Colorado to claim the top spot in the standings, and this week finished T5 before waiting at the 18^thgreen to see Riley finish.

“I was there on 18 to congratulate him in Colorado,” said Riley. “I know what he felt and it’s a really good feeling to win…You’re happy for him but at the same time it kind of fired me up. I was ready to go this week. Now we have three trophies in there, hopefully we can just keep building that up…We just push each other every day and play a lot of golf together. It’s good to have someone just as good or maybe better than you to play with, it’s a lot of fun.”

Zalatoris, for his part, rose to T5 despite a first-round 77 that left him T141 after the first round. Zalatoris has now posted five consecutive top-10s, one shy of the Tour’s record. The roommates, who live in Dallas, now hold the top two spots in the standings.

SAN ANTONIO – Canadian golfer Taylor Pendrith posted his second straight career-best finish on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday, finishing second at the TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons.

Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., shot a 6-under 66 in the fourth round to finish 21 under for the tournament, four strokes behind winner David Lipsky of the United States.

Pendrith, who tied for third at last week’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, is projected to jump to 12th from 26th in the tour standings after this week’s result.

The top 25 in the standings next fall earn PGA Tour cards for the following season.

Pendrith, a member of Team Canada’s Young Pro Squad, has shot in the 60s in 14 of his past 16 rounds.

France’s Paul Barjon, who edged out Pendrith for top spot on the Canadian-based Mackenzie Tour’s order of merit last year, and Paul Haley II of the U.S., tied for third at 20 under.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., posted his second straight top-10 result, finishing in a tie for eighth at 17 under.

Svensson is projected to be 37th in the standings this week.

The Korn Ferry Tour remains in San Antonio for another event next week.

Stuart Macdonald wasn’t quite sure what Golf Canada’s Derek Ingram wanted to talk about when he was called up to his hotel room in early January, but the men’s head coach was direct as soon as the conversation got going.

Ingram told Macdonald that he should fly out of Golf Canada’s training camp in Phoenix for the Monday qualifier at The Club at Weston Hills in Miami to try and enter the field for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Panama Championship, a sentiment echoed by fellow Canadian golfer Taylor Pendrith.

Macdonald made the trip and earned one of the two spots to play in Panama. He tied for 42nd in that tournament and has since played in the El Bosque Mexico Championship, the Utah Championship and last week’s TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes.

“If I didn’t Monday qualify for Panama and then get in and make a cut there who knows where I’d be right now,” said Macdonald, who will be playing in this week’s TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons in Texas. “I’d probably be playing some mini-tour somewhere.”

Macdonald’s original plan for the season, before being redirected by Ingram, was to return to the PGA Tour China, which was scheduled to begin in March but has had its season derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ingram said Macdonald’s plans for 2020 had been on his mind for days before he actual sat the 25-year-old from Vancouver down for that fateful talk.

“I was thinking to myself ‘here’s a guy who can do it, he’s good enough,’ and yeah, there’s only four guys that can make the tournament out of 150 but, why not you?” said Ingram.

“I just sat him in my hotel room at our training camp in January and said ‘I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t be playing in that.”’

Macdonald is currently ranked 139th on the Korn Ferry Tour and was encouraged when he tied for 28th at the Utah Championship at the end of June. He’ll be joined by Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., in San Antonio this week and next – the TPC San Antonio club will host back-to-back tournaments on different courses.

Because of the golf season being suspended for several months by the global pandemic, the PGA Tour has determined that all players’ statuses, including Macdonald’s conditional status, will carry over until 2021, effectively giving him 18 months to qualify for either a full Korn Ferry Tour card or even make the PGA Tour.

`It’s really nice to think that I’ve got another 20-something events to do what I want to do and have a chance to work hard.” said Macdonald. “It’s a bit of relief because there’s so many guys right now that may be playing great golf but if you’re not playing on a PGA Tour sanctioned tour it’s not really getting you anywhere.”

As far as Ingram is concerned, there’s no reason why Macdonald won’t be able to succeed at the highest levels of professional golf.

“Ultimately, I see Stuart Macdonald as a PGA Tour player,” said Ingram, recalling the conversation in the hotel room. “You’re good enough to Monday qualify, to make cuts, and reshuffle, and make this tour full time.”

BERTHOUD, Colo. – Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Taylor Pendrith posted the best finish of his career on the Korn Ferry Tour on Saturday, tying for third at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes.

Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., was 13 under for the tournament after shooting a 2-under 70 in the fourth and final round.

The 29-year-old Pendrith and four other golfers finished two strokes behind winner Will Zalatoris of the United States. Fellow American Chase Johnson was second at 14 under.

Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., tied for 10th at 10 under, while Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald tied for 63rd at one over.

The result pushes Pendrith up 23 spots to 26th on the Korn Ferry points list. The top 25 at season’s end earn PGA Tour cards.

Pendrith’s previous best showing on the PGA Tour’s top feeder circuit was a tie for fourth in 2016 at the Club Colombia Championship.

One shot back entering the final round Saturday, Pendrith moved into a tie for the lead after draining three birdies on his front nine. But bogeys on Nos. 10 and 14 dropped him back before a birdie on No. 16 allowed Pendrith to notch the career-best result.

The tour shifts to San Antonio for its next two events.

BERTHOUD, Colo. – Canadian Taylor Pendrith is in contention for his first Korn Ferry Tour victory with one round to go at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes.

Pendrith, of Richmond Hill, Ont., fired a 5-under 67 on Friday to reach 11 under through three rounds – leaving him in a tie for second place only one stroke back of leader Will Zalatoris.

Pendrith began the day in sixth after shooting 68-70 in the first two rounds. He followed that up on Friday with his best round of the tournament, going bogey free with five birdies to climb the leaderboard.

Zalatoris got to 12 under by shooting 70, while Erik Barnes sits tied with Pendrith after matching him with a 67.

Pendrith’s best finish this season came two weeks ago at The King and Bear Classic at World Golf Village, where he placed 14th.

Pendrith, who earned two victories last season on Canada’s Mackenzie Tour, is the top-ranked Canadian on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour, sitting 49th.

Meanwhile, Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., has moved into the Top 10 with 18 holes to play. He is 7 under following a 4-under 68, while Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is 2 over after firing a 75.

Taylor Pendrith isn’t used to his weekly nasal swabbing just yet, but he’s getting there.

Pendrith and his peers on the Korn Ferry Tour get tested for COVID-19 at the start of every week as part of the second-tier golf tour’s safety protocols as it restarts its season. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native passed his most recent test, allowing him to compete at this week’s King & Bear Classic.

“They’re uncomfortable but it’s only 10 seconds, it’s not too bad,” said Pendrith a day after his most recent swabbing. “Not something I would want to get every Monday for the rest of the year but it might have to be that way.”

Golfers are not allowed to play on the Korn Ferry Tour until they get back a negative result from their weekly test. They’re also asked to stay in Tour-sanctioned hotels, fly in chartered planes filled exclusively with players and caddies, and generally try to stay within their bubble. Caddies are also armed with sanitizing wipes to clean off rakes and flagsticks after they’re used.

Pendrith says all these steps have helped him feel safe after the Korn Ferry Tour resumed play last Thursday at the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass.

“The Tour’s done a really good job of trying to put everything in place, different measures to allow us to compete,” said Pendrith.

“All the guys out here and the staff and everybody involved in the tournament have been doing a really good job of following the guidelines.”

Although Pendrith recognizes that the unscheduled three-month break in professional golf’s calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on the industry, it had some benefits for him personally.

Pendrith returned home to Canada when golf _ like all professional sports _ suspended play. He had struggled at the start of the season with a flu that became bronchitis and also used the time off to heal up an injured shoulder.

Most importantly, he proposed to his girlfriend Meg Beirnes, a registered nurse in the hematology and stem cell transplant department at Hamilton General Hospital.

“I had other plans but obviously they got changed with the pandemic,” said Pendrith. “But it’s super exciting for us and hopefully I get to see her soon once the border opens up but for now we’re in different countries, relying on Zoom calls.”

Pendrith is tied for third at 7-under with seven other golfers at the week’s King & Bear Classic. He entered the tournament ranked 64th. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont. is tied for 25th at 5-under and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. is tied at 144th at 2-over.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The Korn Ferry Tour announced today additional modifications and details regarding the restart of the 2020 schedule and a fall calendar of events that will be part of a one-time, combined 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour season.

The announcement of a fall schedule comes after the PGA TOUR announced last week that, due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancelation or postponement of 13 events from the 2019-20 TOUR Season, eligibility has been extended for exempt 2019-20 PGA TOUR members for the 2020-21 season. These adjustments will result in the Korn Ferry Tour not having a graduating class in 2020; however, the TOUR has established a performance benefit for the top 10 from the Korn Ferry Tour points list following the conclusion of the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance. Those players will be granted access into all PGA TOUR additional events for the 2020-21 season.

The newly created 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour schedule that will bridge two seasons will conclude with 25 PGA TOUR cards awarded at the 2021 WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz, with an additional 25 cards awarded at the conclusion of the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

With six events completed through the El Bosque Mexico Championship by INNOVA, the remaining 2020 schedule – subject to change – now consists of 23 events. Korn Ferry Tour events to be contested in 2021 as part of the combined 2020-21 schedule will be announced later this year.

“While we won’t have the opportunity to graduate a Korn Ferry Tour Class in 2020, we feel our reimagined wraparound schedule – with newly created playing opportunities – is the best solution to our season that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Korn Ferry Tour President Alex Baldwin. “We greatly appreciate the support of our tournaments, title sponsors and Player Advisory Council in getting to this point. As we’ve said on several occasions, we will resume play only when it is deemed safe to do so by leading health authorities and government agencies and our tournaments do not negatively impact the critical efforts in the healthcare world and our communities.”

The restart to the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour season will begin as previously announced with the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The event will now be followed by a second event in Northeast Florida at The King & Bear Course at World Golf Village in St. Augustine. This new tournament takes the place of the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, which will move to one of the newly created fall dates.

The Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank – the Tour’s first event back on Golf Channel – will remain as scheduled the week of June 22-28 in Farmington, Utah, while the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes in Berthoud, Colorado, moves up one week into the June 29-July 5 date.

Following the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, the Tour will contest two new events at TPC San Antonio – host of the PGA TOUR’s Valero Texas Open – in back-to-back weeks, starting July 6-18. The first event will be played on the Canyons Course, while the second event would be hosted on the Oaks Course, which is the official tournament course for the Valero Texas Open.

“As we look toward a return to golf, the health and safety of everyone associated with the Korn Ferry Tour and our communities will remain our No. 1 priority,” said Baldwin. “With the impact sustained thus far to our 2020 schedule, it was imperative that we strive to create new playing opportunities for our membership, including these four events that were not on our original schedule.”

The Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS in Springfield, Illinois, will move from the week of July 13-19 to one of the new fall dates, which leaves the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper in Springfield, Missouri, as the first of six events on the original 2020 calendar that will remain as scheduled through the Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance.

In addition to the Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS and the Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, the Evans Scholars Invitational in Chicago, and the Savannah Golf Championship in Savannah, Georgia, were also rescheduled for the new fall season. The inaugural Orange County National Championship presented by Knight 39 will be played near Orlando the week of October 5-11.

Revised 2020 Korn Ferry Tour Season schedule

• June 8-14: Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, TPC Sawgrass (Dye’s Valley), Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
• June 15-20: The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village, The King & Bear GC at World Golf Village, St. Augustine, Florida (Saturday finish)
• June 22-28: Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, Oakridge CC, Farmington, Utah
• June 29-July 5: TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colorado
• July 6-12: TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons, TPC San Antonio (Canyons Course), San Antonio, Texas
• July 13-18: TPC San Antonio Championship at the Oaks, TPC San Antonio (Oaks Course), San Antonio, Texas (Saturday finish)
• July 20-26: Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, Highland Springs CC, Springfield, Missouri
• July 27-August 2: Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna, The Club at Indian Creek, Omaha, Nebraska
• August 3-9: WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by KraftHeinz, Pumpkin Ridge GC (Witch Hollow), North Plains, Oregon
• August 10-16: Albertsons Boise Open presented by Kraft Nabisco, Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho
• August 17-23: Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Ohio State University GC (Scarlet Course), Columbus, Ohio
• August 24-30: Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, Victoria National GC, Newburgh, Indiana
• August 31-September 6: Lincoln Land Championship presented by LRS, Panther Creek CC, Springfield, Illinois
• September 7-13 : Evans Scholars Invitational, TBD, Chicago, Illinois
• September 21-27: Wichita Open Supporting Wichita’s Youth, Crestview CC, Wichita, Kansas
• September 28-October 4: Savannah Golf Championship, The Landings Club (Deer Creek), Savannah, Georgia
• October 5-11: Orange County National Championship presented by Knight 39, Orange County Golf Center & Lodge (Panther Lake), Winter Garden, Florida

The Korn Ferry Tour will resume play with at least the first four events closed to the general public while continuing to monitor the COVID-19 situation and follow the recommendations of local and state authorities in order to determine the most appropriate on-site access in each market. Decisions on fan attendance at all events thereafter will be dependent on available protocols that could be implemented to ensure the health and well-being for all involved.

For more information on the Korn Ferry Tour, please visit PGATOUR.com.