Taylor Pendrith looking for sleep after 'exhausting' 72 at U.S. Open in Oakmont
OAKMONT, Pa. — Taylor Pendrith said the thing he was going to work on most before playing his second round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont was sleep.
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'Very exhausting,' the Canadian said when asked to describe his five-and-a-half hour opening round of two-over 72. 'There's no easy shots. There's no time during the round where you're like, 'OK, I can breathe easy now.'
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'Most courses have a tee ball that really suits your eye and maybe a fairway that is really wide, and you can just relax a little bit. But not here.'
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Despite finishing a couple strokes over par, the big-hitting Canadian will find himself in a good position heading into Friday. With its mixture of tight fairways, punishing bunkers and terrifying greens, Oakmont is the perfect U.S. Open course for a championship meant to provide the sternest test in golf.
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'It's really mentally straining and I'm happy to be done,' he said.
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The course played as benignly as possible on a calm Thursday morning, with moisture from weeks of rain keeping the greens from reaching anywhere near their terrifying peak speeds.
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'Out here you're just grinding on everything,' he said. 'Even the three footers are really difficult with how fast the greens are and how slopey they are. I played a couple five-footers today two to three cups outside the hole, and you literally just had to get them moving because they were so fast.'
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The 34-year-old Pendrith has the power game and large frame to succeed at Oakmont, where past champions include golf strongmen Dustin Johnson, Angel Cabrera and Ernie Els.
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Although on Thursday, after beginning on the back nine, the most important club in Pendrith's bag was his putter as he capped off his round with a 21-foot par-saving putt at the nearly 300-yard par 3 eight hole, and then rolled in another par-saver to end his day at the ninth.
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'It feels really good to finish with those putts. I felt like I've been rolling it nice and my speed has been good,' he said. 'To see the long one go in at the long par-three was a really nice save and to finish on the last hole with a 10-footer felt great.
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