Canada's Taylor Pendrith beats Byron Nelson for first PGA Tour win – Winnipeg Free Press

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Taylor Pendrith did his best to ignore Ben Koehles' final hole as he drove to the 18th green, focusing on the eagle putt the Canadian thought he needed to make to force a playoff.

A few stunning minutes later, a 3-footer for birdie gave Pendrith his first win on the PGA Tour.

Koehles took a one-shot lead over Pendrith with birdies on Nos. 16 and 17, then bogeyed the 18th after hitting his second shot on the green.

Confused after a putt in the foul — another with his feet in the bunker — Kohles missed a 6-foot putt that would have forced a playoff.

“I didn't try to focus on what they were doing, but it was important,” Pendrith said. “I feel Ben. He played very well today, especially in the lower stages. I've been on the other side of it a few times and it's pretty nasty. But that's golf. It's a tough game.”

Pendrith shot a 4-over 67 for a 23-over 261 at TPC Craig Ranch. The 32-year-old earned his 74th career PGA Tour win.

Koehles, who played north of his hometown of Dallas, shot a 66 to complete the comeback. The 34-year-old, who plays out of North Carolina, is winless in 68 starts.

“Honestly, I've never seen anything this rough all week,” said Kohles, who moved to North Carolina when he was 10 years old.

“He just needed a little more effort. I did a lot of good things this week, and I'm going to remind myself of that and try to get myself back into that position.”

Alex Noren, the Swedish player also seeking his first win on the PGA Tour, had another shot. He wowed the crowd at the stadium hole on the par-3 17th, but knew he needed an eagle on the 18th and followed through with that birdie. Noren shot a 65 and tied for third. Under 21.

Aaron Rai and first-round leader Matt Wallace of England were at 20 under, as was South Korea's SH Kim and Byeong Hoon Ahn. Rye and Kim shot 64, Ahn 65 and Wallace 68.

The third-round lead separated Pendrith and Kohles by just one stroke, or was tied for most of the day.

After Kohles made a 20-footer to take the lead on 17, Pendrith's par putt circled the cup and went in.

“He just buckled down, and not only did it give me a chance, but he put the last second in,” Pendrith said. After paring another test with a putt on the par-4 16th.

The win sent Pendrith to the PGA Championship two weeks later and next year's Masters. He's also in the next three $20 million signature events, starting next week with the Wells Fargo Championship.

Kohles and Noren also made their way to Wells Fargo with the Nelson shows.

With the Wells Fargo and PGA coming up over the next two weeks, only three of the top 30 in the world rankings were in the field.

No. 20-ranked Jordan Spieth suffered his second loss in 12 appearances at the hometown event.

Defending champion Jason Day (22nd) and Tom Kim (23rd) were not in contention, with Day one shot behind Kim on 9th.

Second-round leader Jake Knapp, who worked as a guard in his home state of California three years ago, shot 70 to finish 19 under. Knapp and Wallace were the only players of the previous eight to win on the PGA Tour.

Because of overnight rain, the start of the final round was pushed back 2 1/2 hours, and the doubles went from two tees to threes, allowing players to lift, clean up and place shots on the fairway.

Wallace looked to start the charge by looking for a birdie on the 12th, the toughest hole of the week, and getting another birdie on the par-4 13th. A three-shot bogey on the par-3 15th stopped him.

Rafael Campos, a 13-year journeyman from Puerto Rico who has spent most of his career on satellite tours, bogeyed five of the first six holes, starting on the back nine, to make the turn at 29.

The 36-year-old cooled off on the second nine and drove 48 feet from the green to finish 63 and 18 under for an eagle on the par-5 ninth.

Taiga Semikawa, 23, of Japan played on a sponsor's exemption and finished 18th after a 64.

Chris Kim, a 16-year-old amateur making his PGA Tour debut, had a tough finish as the youngest player to play in the final round on the tour in 10 years.

Playing her back nine on the field, the South Korean-born son of former LPGA Tour player Ji-Hyun Suh had four bogeys and shot 73 to finish at 6-under.

Kim, who hails from England, played for CJ Group, a South Korean company sponsor and title sponsor of the tournament.

___

AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf