Pendrith puts figurative ‘A’ on golf shirt for Presidents Cup

Pendrith puts figurative ‘A’ on golf shirt for Presidents Cup JOHN CHIDLEY-HILL THE CANADIAN PRESS PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO Open this photo in gallery: International team players Taylor Pendrith of Canada, and Corey Conners of Canada, right, wait for the trophy presentation at the 2024 Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal. FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Taylor Pendrith was making other plans when he learned that he’d be taking on a new role for the International team as an assistant to captain Geoff Ogilvy at this week’s Presidents Cup. “I was actually planning my mother-in-law’s surprise 60th birthday party, and I’d missed a call from Geoff because I was setting things up,” said Pendrith on Monday. “I went out and took the call, and he told me the news, and I went back in and told my wife, and she was shocked. “I was a little shocked too. It’s not something that at this point in my career I was thinking about, but obviously I’m super honoured and proud to to be in this role and be here with the guys.” Unlike hockey, the captain and his assistants don’t play in the Presidents Cup but act more like coaches, following play in golf carts and relaying information from pairing to pairing. As a result, the captains and their assistants for the best-on-best tournament that sees the top American golfers on the PGA Tour take on the elite from around the world – minus Europe – are older players who are retired or semi-retired. For example, Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., captained the International side at the 2024 edition at Royal Montreal Golf Club. His assistants were Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas. All of them were over 40 at the time and Weir and Els were already regulars on the Champions Tour. Immelman had been CBS’s lead golf analyst for a year, and Ogilvy only played in one PGA Tour event that year. Only Villegas, who was 42 at the time, had played a full season in 2024. At 35 years old, Pendrith is still very much in his prime. Indeed, when play teed off at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago on Thursday morning he officially tied Ian Baker-Finch for the youngest-ever captain’s assistant. “It was a huge goal of mine to make the team as a player, and I just didn’t have a great year on the golf course,” said Pendrith, who was 95th on the FedEx Cup…