Former Kent State star Taylor Pendrith shares early lead at Rocket Mortgage Classic

Former Kent State star Taylor Pendrith shot a first-round 8-under 64 and is tied for the lead along with Tony Finau after round one of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, held Thursday at Detroit Golf Club.

Pendrith, a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie, surged into a share of the lead with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his back nine.

Toward the end of his round, the relatively anonymous player in the world noticed the ‘h’ in his last name was missing on the leaderboard.

Alas, the 8 under next to his misspelled name was correct.

“That’s all that matters,” he said with a grin.

Pendrith is atop a leaderboard for the first time on the PGA Tour following an opening round. The Canadian did have the third-round lead by three shots last October at the Bermuda Championship before closing with a 76 and finishing a career-high fifth.

In March, he was 13th at the Players Championship and came away with a career-best $327,222 — and a broken rib.

The injury prevented him from competing for nearly four months, leading to him being ranked No. 237. He has bounced back with ties for 11th and 13th at tournaments earlier this month.

“When I’m healthy, I can compete with the best,” Pendrith said.

The leaderboard was filled with players who took advantage of favorable scoring conditions with morning tee times. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and the scores did as well.

Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson, Cameron Champ, Lee Hodges and Matt Wallace were two shots back.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Former Kent State star Taylor Pendrith shares the lead in Detroit