In an otherwise disappointing season, Taylor Pendrith will take any signs of positivity as a win – even if he didn’t actually win the tournament this week.
Pendrith fell short in a playoff to Steven Fisk at the PGA Tour's ISCO Championship on Sunday after making bogey on the third playoff hole in Louisville, Ky. In the process, he became the second Canadian to lose in a playoff Sunday with Brooke Henderson getting defeated by Haeran Ryu earlier in the day at the Amundi Evian Championship in France.
Alas, it was Pendrith’s best finish of the season. And in a year when things haven’t really gone his way, he knows this was a huge – and important – building block for the rest of 2026.
“I really haven't had a great year results wise,” Pendrith admitted Sunday. “Felt like I've been doing some good stuff the last couple months and felt like most parts of my game have been pretty strong, just haven't got the results. It's been quite frustrating, but this week is a really good sign.
“Felt really comfortable out there today.”
Pendrith opened with an even-par 70 on Thursday but rallied with a 7-under 63 on Friday to head into the weekend firmly in the mix. He shot 66-65 on the weekend to finish at 16 under.
The Canadian opened with a bogey Sunday but made two birdies in a row on Nos. 2 and 3 before adding four more on his back nine. He finished about 40 minutes earlier than Fisk, who was 3 under on his back nine and two-putted from 30 feet on No. 18 to join Pendrith at 16 under.
Pendrith had the best opportunity to win the tournament on the first playoff hole after hitting a tidy sawed-off 9 iron to just nine feet. His putt hit a bit of the lip and ripped past by three feet but he made the comebacker and the duo headed back to the tee.
Pendrith then got up-and-down for par on the second playoff hole, needing to make another short putt to extend.
“I thought I hit a pretty good putt (on the first playoff hole) obviously a little bit too firm. I've been struggling a lot with the putter this year. Couldn't really feel my hands at all on both of those putts. Second putt was a good one. Another good four-footer on the second hole,” Pendrith said.
On the third extra hole Pendrith hit his tee ball into the fairway bunker and hit his approach shot fat. He missed a 10-footer for par and Fisk tapped in from just a couple feet away for the win, his second career PGA Tour triumph.
“Obviously I wasn't in great position on the last hole,” Pendrith said. “Needed a nice decent shot, so I knew I needed to make par for sure. Just kind of missed my spot on the chip shot.”
Pendrith had notched just one top-10 finish (at his first event of the season in Hawaii) this year prior to Sunday. Although the ISCO Championship is played opposite the Genesis Scottish Open and there isn’t the same number of full FedExCup points available, Pendrith is projected to move to No. 79 from No. 97 in the standings. And with only the top 100 re-earning PGA Tour status for next year, this was a key week at a key time.
While Pendrith will rue not taking advantage of his prime opportunity on the first playoff hole, there was a lot to like about his week overall.
This season has been a tough one for Pendrith on the greens as he sits 124th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: putting. But he was 12th in that stat this week and gained more than four shots to the field with the flatstick. A solid short-game effort combined with a world-class game off the tee this week and Pendrith proved to himself he’s still got it.
“I take a lot of positives away from this week, for sure,” Pendrith said. “It sucks to finish second and be so close but felt like overall it was a really good week for me and some good momentum moving into the end of the year.”
Fellow Canadian Ben Silverman also notched his best finish of the year Sunday as he tied for third – just one shot back of Pendrith and Fisk – and Mackenzie Hughes tied his best result of 2026, as he finished tied for 10th.
