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BLAINE, July 27 (Reuters) – Taylor Pendreth shot a 1-under-par 64 to take a two-shot lead over Matt Nesmith at the 3M Open this weekend.

In windy afternoon conditions, Pendreth birdied a 30-foot putt on the 16th hole and then made another putt on the 18th. He shot 12 under par at the TPC Twin Cities Championship, playing the first 36 holes without a mistake.

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The 33-year-old Canadian won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson Championship in Texas in May for his first PGA Tour title. He also finished fifth last week at the Barracuda Championship in California.

“Today the wind was really strong, quite strong at times, so my pace was really good all day and I stayed patient,” Pendrith said. “I didn’t have a lot of good opportunities in the first hour of golf, and I was able to be patient and hit two shots, two long shots, which was good.”

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Nesmith shot a 64 in the morning before wind gusts exceeding 32 mph hit the course in the afternoon and evening.

Seeking his first PGA Championship victory, Nesmith lost in a playoff two weeks ago at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky, the only top-10 he had in his previous 20 starts this season. He missed 11 rounds.

“Patience is the key here, whether it’s winning a golf tournament and getting a good score or trying to hold on to your card and trying to get in the top 30,” Nesmith said. “I think that applies to everybody here. You never know when you’re going to be the best, and you never know when good golf is going to show up. Try to be patient and try to stay calm and you never know what could happen.”

First-round leader Jacob Bridgman shot a 70 to fall three shots back to 9 under par with Andrew Putnam (66). Doug Game (64), Lanto Griffin (66), Alex Smalley (65) and Jonathan Vegas (66) shot 8 under par.

“I felt like everything was pretty good under par today, especially in the afternoon,” said Bridgman, one of the last players to tee off Friday. “The wind was pretty strong early in the round and then died down a little bit at the end, which was nice. But the greens were choppy with traffic… I was just patient all day and didn’t have a lot of good chances.”

The event was the penultimate tournament before FedEx Cup qualifying began, as several players nearing the 70-player limit failed to qualify for the weekend. Nick Dunlap (64th), Luke List (71st) and defending champion Lee Hodges (73rd) all failed to qualify. (Related Press)

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