LAS VEGAS — Taylor Pendrith was spared wind so strong it caused a four-hour delay and battered the field Friday in the Shriners Hospital Open. The Canadian only had to play six holes and stayed in the lead before the second round was halted by darkness.
Pendrith, who had a 10-under 61 on Thursday in a relatively calm morning to start the tournament, now faces a long Saturday — 12 holes to complete the second round and however many holes in the third round as the autumn light allows.
He remained at 10 under — four pars, a birdie and a bogey in his short day of work — and led by one shot over Rico Hoey, who made a 15-foot eagle putt on his seventh and final hole.
Far more impressive was Las Vegas resident Kurt Kitayama, who was bogey-free for a 68 in gusts approaching 40 mph and temperatures that led to a wardrobe of sweaters and ski caps.
Kitayama was part of the group at 8-under 134 that included Doug Ghim, J.J. Spaun and Davis Thompson, all of whom completed the second round. It took Ghim eight holes before he made his first par, and he wound up with hard-earned 70.
“Just a lot of patient golf and knowing the value of a par was going to be a little bit higher than normal,” Ghim said.
The start of Friday was delayed four hours when gusts approaching 50 mph made it difficult to play and caused enough safety concerns that PGA Tour officials decided to keep spectators away from the TPC Summerlin. Their tickets were to be honored Saturday.
Once the players were cleared to play, it wasn’t much easier to judge how far the ball was flying in the wind and cooler temperatures and how much roll there would be on the ground with a helping gust.
Putting wasn’t much easier, and no one suffered quite like Joseph Bramlett. He had a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 1, his 10th hole of the second round, and five putts later walked off the green with a triple bogey. Bramlett also missed a 30-inch birdie putt on Thursday.
Greyson Sigg never had to work so hard for a 69.
“I felt like I shot 62 today to be honest, and I only shot 2 under,” Sigg said. “It was so cold this morning. I think we were fortunate they delayed it a little bit. Man, it was blowing from the first shot of the day and all the way to the end. It was a mental test out there today and I did a pretty good job of that.”
The best round of the day belonged to Pierceson Coody, who managed eight birdies in his round of 65 after opening with a 72. He was at 5-under 137.
Pendrith watched most of this from his hotel room between naps. When he finally teed off late in the afternoon, the wind was still gusting plenty and he could appreciate the challenge.
“I think it died down a little bit for us, but still some really strong gusts that you kind of had to time your putts. Putting is really tough in the wind I thought,” he said. “Overall really hard day, and I know those guys in the morning had it a little harder.”
The worst of it was forecast to be moving on, though strong wind was still expected at least through half of Saturday.
Still to come was the 36-hole cut, which was hovering between 3 under par and 2 under par.
